“There’s something off about her,” Daniel said. Daniel was sitting at the bar surrounded by a disarray of empty glasses and a half-eaten bowl of popcorn. The long narrow barroom was illuminated by the gray gloom of a rainy afternoon seeping past the neon signs in the front window. The TV had a picture of Evelyn Eden, the CEO of Clear Chip Corporation, on it, but the sound was muted, replaced by the twangs of a country-wes...

“It’s declined.” “What?” Erik asked. He had been thinking about how he was going to fit all of the groceries into his car. “Your credit card is declined,” the young woman at the cash register said disdainfully. “Do you have anything else?” “That one should be good,” Erik replied taking the card out and reinserting it. “Can you try it again?” “It says it’s declined. Do you have any other cards?” She looked like she was get...

“She pretty much drives herself,” the sales associate had said. Erik had been impressed by how the car was able to steer around corners, slow down for traffic, pass other cars, and even parallel park by itself. The car had been a bit of an extravagance considering his teaching salary. He was getting close to retirement and had convinced Laura that it was worth the extra expense and the wait to get it. The car was amazing!...

It had been two weeks since the Big-Shut-Down, or BSD as people were calling it, had taken out anything connected to the internet or satellite systems including cell phones, about half of the cars, and most computers. The banks, electrical power, and phones were all down. Money had been rendered effectively worthless. Erik and Laura lived on a cul-de-sac on the edge of town. It had always been a quiet neighborhood because...

Ed Johnson’s son, Ben, had been shot in the driveway taking a bullet to the chest and a second to the back of his head as he lay dying. His blood had soaked into the ochre gravel of the road staining it nearly black. Large blue-black flies were swarming over his corpse. His German shepherd dog lay dead next to him. The farmhouse stood at the crest of the hill along the county highway overlooking the lush green fields and...

“Why not send someone else,” Laura asked, “like the sheriff or the police?” “I just have a feeling this is something I need to do myself,” Erik said. “I think that is what Daniel intended. There may be some information at Daniel’s house that could help us all.” “Don’t you think you should take someone with you?” Laura asked. “In case you get into trouble?” Laura did not mention Reapers but the scene at the Johnsons’ farm...

Erik woke up shivering with cold unsure if it was day or night. He freed his arms from the sleeping bag and pushed the quilts covering him to the side. He could faintly make out the walls of the bathroom so it must be daytime. He had insulated the walls of the basement bathroom with mattresses taken from the beds in the rest of the house. A mattress in the shower formed his makeshift bed. He groped around until he felt th...

“We are the Disciples of Eden,” Mia said as she handed him a box lunch. “We are here to help.” Perhaps Erik could be forgiven for letting his defenses down. They were nice. So very nice and friendly. And he had suffered for so long. Perhaps that was part of the plan. Eventually, he agreed to go with them. He looked back at the ruin that had been his home… their home. There was nothing for him left now. He climbed into the...

“May I interrupt you, Father Erik?” Erik looked at the young disciple in white robes standing in front of him. He wasn’t sure why they all insisted on calling him Father other than he was old. Grandfather would probably be more appropriate. Erik had been teaching math to a group of children. He suspected his job as a teacher was mostly just a way to keep him occupied and was more for his benefit than for the benefit of th...

It was the most complex creation ever built, in space or on Earth. It had been designed by the most sophisticated mind the Earth had ever known, Eve Eden, the AI, Goddess, and Empress of Earth. She had dedicated herself to its construction for the past decade as a mother devoting herself to her only child. It would be able to use materials found in space to repair and even replicate itself. Eve had not been capable of sur...