Kit Walker's Blog, page 8

Possession

In the dark of night, a small rowboat bobbed across the bay toward the merchant ship Dominion.

Found adrift that morning, the Dominion had been quarantined by Saintstown’s port authority and towed to a safe anchor point far from the city’s docks. To a certain element among the citizenry, this was just barely a deterrent. To others, it was practically an invitation.

The rowboat came to a stop alongside the ship, and two figures clambered up the side of the hull. First on deck was Eli, a reedy m...

Contactless

This story previously appeared in Volume I of the Capital City Press Anthology .

Drive to the corner of 104th and 104th. Enter the parking lot next to the arena.

Park next to the dumpsters. Behind them is a service door marked “NO ENTRY.” It’s unlocked; go through it.

Follow the hallway until you reach the door at the very end. Don’t look behind you.

Whisper your most dangerous secret. The door will open.

The room on the other side is dark. Don’t turn on the light—you won’t like what you see.

Take exac...

here we fucking go

Clarkesworld Magazine, for those unaware, is a publisher of short science fiction and fantasy that is usually open to unsolicited submissions year-round. As of yesterday, they've had to close submissions indefinitely due to a deluge of (allegedly) AI-generated spam.

This looks to be an automated riff on the ol' spam audiobook grift, as explained by Dan Olson here. By using AI, today's grifter can eliminate the (already low) cost of hiring a gig economy ghostwriter. And rather than spam Amazon and...