Dime Novels From Oblivion

 At 12:04 am EST, Deputy Sherrif Warran Baker responded to a call nearby a local cell tower. Initial reporting went a large man was seen climbing the structure to something about giant cranes flying headfirst into its blinking red lights.  The Deputy arrived on the scene by 12:13. The sky was dark but clear. In the pale illuminance of the full moon, the Deputy could see through the cluster of narrow pine trees the shadowy outline of someone holding on near the top of the tower. "Woah, that son of a bitch is big," marveled Warran. "Sir, this is the Cherylsburg sheriff's department. You are trespassing on private property. Immediately climb down from the tower and put your hands above your head." Warran sternly ordered from his car's megaphone. The figure pushed off from the tower, and a pair of tattered wings quickly unfolded from its back and spasmodically flapped to save it from the free fall. The motion slowed to an uneasy fluttering, and the creature hove

 41-year-old software designer Jarred Ingram was, on the whole, an average sort of guy. He was about average height, just a little over average weight, his politics were middle of the road. He believed everything in moderation. His life was steady but not slow, and he often summed it all up with the phrase "I'm just happy to be here." Sitting on his couch one night dividing his attention between work and Netflix, he heard his doorbell ring. Thinking it was a delivery driver, he grabbed his wallet off the coffee table and went to the door.  The door's chime was the call of destiny itself. The moment Jarred opened the door, he became the intersection of time and space, instead of someone holding a carryout bag, a tall older man with neatly trimmed white hair and deep-set jade eyes. He stood tall and proper wearing a suit perfectly tailored to his long frame. "Jarred?" the man asked.  "Yeah," Jarred said with polite suspicion. The stranger flashed a s

 At 10:03 AM, senate proceedings were interrupted by one Colonel Henderson of the marine corps. He politely apologized for the intrusion and explained there was actionable intelligence on a specific threat, and every senator was to be rushed by armed escorts to a secure location. The legislators and their staff breathed a collective sigh of relief when they were informed this undisclosed and very secure location has WIFI. Tyer Sheppard, the press secretary for Senator Duncan, remained dutiful under duress and documented the strategic retreat with his phone.  “Never let a crisis go to waste!” was the young political professional’s mantra. Tyler snapped pictures of marines clutching assault weapons and donning gas masks as they ushered everyone out of the capitol building. He even managed to persuade one into posing for an action shot that portrayed a stiff-backed Tyler having what appeared to be a serious conversation with the armored trooper. He made sure to grab snaps of the convoy of

 "See the world your way." That was the promise of PercepTech's newest wearable device, the Looking Glass. It was a seemingly harmless advertising slogan that became the last words of a society bent on suicide. "It wirelessly connects to your ocular nerves to augment your reality in real-time. Making the world around you a much more pleasant one!" Annie, the salesgirl, explained. Gloria looked down at the box in her hand. "What does that mean?" She asked. Annie smiled as if pleased Gloria had asked the question. "Well, in the fraction of a second, it takes your brain to process what your eyes are seeing the Looking Glass alters it to make your surroundings more suitable." Gloria squinted, "I'm not sure I follow." Annie clasped her fingers, "Hmm, let me put it to you this way. You know how, like on Facebook or Twitter, you can block people and sites you don't like?" Gloria nodded. "This does the same thing but

There was a neural scientist who believed our memories were etched into the groves of our brain tissue. His theory was that so long as the right technology could be developed, the information or data stored in the human brain could be downloaded and converted into something that could be stored on an electronic medium. Such as a hard drive. That idea eventually evolved into the first electro video neutral transcriber device. Simply put, it was a machine that could read the memories imprinted in neural tissue and convert it into digital video.  The one caveat though, was the design of the machine required the brain not to be encased in a skull. Which left technicians with only the degrading memories of cadavers to work with. John Parson and Elliot Gould could never understand how the machine or its operating software worked. They were simple analysts, tasked with sifting through the memories of the deceased, hoping the long-gone moments might yield some valuable insight. Human consci

Francis Strauss was among the nobility of the entertainment industry. He resided in a palace built precariously on a cliff overlooking a stretch of coastline. The enormous structure dug into the edge of the bluff seemed in itself a statement of defiance, an arrogant challenge to the mighty forces of nature, embodied in the Pacific to just try and take down his opulent fortress. Francis was a composer and a very well renowned one. His scores were featured in dozens of movies and tv shows. His unseen hand emotionally supercharged dramatic moments. His highly discerning ears expertly layered the melancholy piano and swelling strings into scenes that aroused the deepest felt human emotions. Through the pitch and arrangements of notes, Francis could connect with humanity. Still, in all other aspects, his social skills were terminally deficient, and because of this, despite his immense wealth and notoriety, Francis was never loved by anyone. A vague inkling his life was lacking something,