Post an excerpt for Anthology 2, give us a little taste

[Avatar]

Aah yes, I know that story...where the 'Tank remains a quiet and unremarked little sub-forum that everybody pretends doesn't exist. One of your favourite fantasies.

--A

[Loredoctor]

Aah yes, I know that story...where the 'Tank remains a quiet and unremarked little sub-forum that everybody pretends doesn't exist. One of your favourite fantasies.

--A

In my version, the 'Legalise It' thread lasts one page and no one votes 'yes'.

[Avatar]

ROTFLMAO!

You dreamer...

--A

[hierachy]

The state of the chamber below was even worse. The walls had all but completely melted away, and once proud rock lay in rotting puddles on the floor. The air, though no foreign particles were visible, was stained almost completely black, and Reiner felt acutely the waves of putrefying energy that pulsated from the room's core.

PS. How can rock rot? That would be telling.

[aTOMiC]

The state of the chamber below was even worse. The walls had all but completely melted away, and once proud rock lay in rotting puddles on the floor. The air, though no foreign particles were visible, was stained almost completely black, and Reiner felt acutely the waves of putrefying energy that pulsated from the room's core.

PS. How can rock rot? That would be telling.

Thats scary. All I can think of is intense heat. This sounds pretty dang good.

[CovenantJr]

The story looks good, Drew.

The state of the chamber below was even worse. The walls had all but completely melted away, and once proud rock lay in rotting puddles on the floor. The air, though no foreign particles were visible, was stained almost completely black, and Reiner felt acutely the waves of putrefying energy that pulsated from the room's core.

PS. How can rock rot? That would be telling.

[Dragonlily]

I think I might like to send in an application.

yeah I know.."drew you can't spell, or type, I doubt that you can write a story"

But, thanks to the help of someone on the Watch, I decided to start putting down on paper all the stories that have been dancing around my head for about the last decade or so--just for the hell of it, I'm working on a novel---very slowly-I still drive in upwards of sixty hours a week so that leaves not much time so sit and write...but I also have this short story that I started writting too, and I thought it might be cool for it to be (possibly) in the next anthology.

Just giving you a bit of a heads up..that's all

Drew, the only thing that matters is that the submission team chooses the story. The editor helps with everything else. It's outstanding that you've started to write them down.

I'm seeing some pretty dang competent writing here. And that includes you, Drew. Tom, we're going to have to leave out those blank pages next time, or the book will be too heavy to mail.

[Loredoctor]

My story is called The Machine Kingdom and its main theme relates to my theory that AI is non-localised and thus has the potential for being truly altruistic or unselfish. The main character is called The Seventeenth Jussiit Mophar Ii-Domain.

I will post an exerpt tomorrow when I have more written.

[drew]

Thanks for the vote of confidence Dragonlilly--although I don't know if I can sqeexe that story down into a short story, at this point, to get from where I want to begin to where I want to end, would take about five full novels!

I do have an idea of how I can tak one story from the general outline, and have it end so it's not just an into into a larger story...let's hope!!

[Loredoctor]

Stranger sights disturbed him. This was because he could not fathom the function of the many ‘machine organs’ that orbited the rings and the star. The AI pillar was unable to elucidate their function, either, due to the limitations of language or Mophar’s mindset. It was as though he were a student again and looking at a cell of some new organism - pondering on the purpose of novel cellular machinery. The closer he approached the star, the more frequent were the alien machines. Conglomerates of spinning wheels and rods, flashing with violet-blue light, dominated the spaces between the orbital rings. As though they were part of some immense neural network - though Mophar realised he was guessing - the objects directed light pulses to one another. Sometimes the outlandish objects linked up to form transitory structures rivaling the size of large moons.

Strangely, the AI pillar started to sing in a deep, operatic voice:
//Monkey on a tree, monkey on a tree
//Blinded by the trunk that he can’t see me.
//Worries about the tigers, sleeping on the ground
//Pats himself on his back for the fruit he’s found.
//Sits in the canopy, thinks he’s the king
//Looks down looks up and watches everything.
//Then he hears my voice; puzzled by the sound
//But he cant see past the trunk he’s got his arms around//

[variol son]

Ooer - I can't wait!

[CovenantJr]

Strangely, the AI pillar started to sing in a deep, operatic voice:
//Monkey on a tree, monkey on a tree
//Blinded by the trunk that he can’t see me.
//Worries about the tigers, sleeping on the ground
//Pats himself on his back for the fruit he’s found.
//Sits in the canopy, thinks he’s the king
//Looks down looks up and watches everything.
//Then he hears my voice; puzzled by the sound
//But he cant see past the trunk he’s got his arms around//

Now what does this remind me of? Hmm.

[Loredoctor]

Now what does this remind me of? Hmm.

I'm not following.

[CovenantJr]

Now...are you being cheeky or serious?

[Loredoctor]

Now...are you being cheeky or serious?

Serious.

[CovenantJr]

Alright, let's take a look at it again.

Strangely, the AI pillar started to sing in a deep, operatic voice:
//Monkey on a tree, monkey on a tree
//Blinded by the trunk that he can’t see me.
//Worries about the tigers, sleeping on the ground
//Pats himself on his back for the fruit he’s found.
//Sits in the canopy, thinks he’s the king
//Looks down looks up and watches everything.
//Then he hears my voice; puzzled by the sound
//But he cant see past the trunk he’s got his arms around//

Does this not say "KWATZ!" to you?

[Loredoctor]

Does this not say "KWATZ!" to you?

I'm going to have to look at Fall of Hyperion again.

[CovenantJr]

It just reminds me of the way the AI Ummon communicates in confusing parables, punctuated by many a /

[Loredoctor]

It just reminds me of the way the AI Ummon communicates in confusing parables, punctuated by many a /

Yeah, I can see the '//' but what I quoted was a poem/song not how it speaks. The AI machine in my story actually talks like us.

[Seareach]

Stranger sights disturbed him. This was because he could not fathom the function of the many ‘machine organs’ that orbited the rings and the star. The AI pillar was unable to elucidate their function, either, due to the limitations of language or Mophar’s mindset. It was as though he were a student again and looking at a cell of some new organism - pondering on the purpose of novel cellular machinery. The closer he approached the star, the more frequent were the alien machines. Conglomerates of spinning wheels and rods, flashing with violet-blue light, dominated the spaces between the orbital rings. As though they were part of some immense neural network - though Mophar realised he was guessing - the objects directed light pulses to one another. Sometimes the outlandish objects linked up to form transitory structures rivaling the size of large moons.

Strangely, the AI pillar started to sing in a deep, operatic voice:
//Monkey on a tree, monkey on a tree
//Blinded by the trunk that he can’t see me.
//Worries about the tigers, sleeping on the ground
//Pats himself on his back for the fruit he’s found.
//Sits in the canopy, thinks he’s the king
//Looks down looks up and watches everything.
//Then he hears my voice; puzzled by the sound
//But he cant see past the trunk he’s got his arms around//

So...is this the short story that's going in the Anthology or is this the one for Aurealis? Remember, you accepted the dare!