dreamszilla

After a long search, a Ghanaian chief finds his wife, who did not want to be found. Image generated with OpenAI He found her in Cape Coast. Cape Coast had not changed since his last visit years ago. The buildings still held the sun like it belonged to them. The breeze still shrieked through the alleys, carrying the salt and the burden of history. Even the dust felt familiar under his sandals as he walked down the alleyway between a kenkey seller and a secondhand bookstall. The chop bar was just where the receipt had said it would be; it was behind a pink-painted building, beneath a blue-and-yellow umbrella that flapped against the wind like it had complaints to file. He stood outside it for a long time. It was not the kind of place you expected to find the woman you had failed. The one you had pushed away, bruised with grief and pride. There she was, visible through the open entrance, placing a bowl of fufu in front of a hunched-over man who had already begun licking ...

Christmas is coming up, so it's time for Chuck and Amy to revive their parents from cryosleep again. Image generated with OpenAI "Okay, we'll have your parents out shortly," the company representative announced. "That's great," said Chuck. "We have to have them back by 5:00 Monday, correct?" The rep checked some data on his tablet. "Yes, that's right," he replied, "but there is something else we need to take care of." "What?" asked Chuck's wife, Amy. "Your Uncle Mike." "We'd prefer to leave him," said Chuck. "We're just having a small Christmas. We don't need Uncle Mike there." "You have to do something with him," explained the rep. "The contract clearly states that each enrollee must be revived at least once every five years. It's necessary for updating and system maintenance." Amy shook her head. "I don't ...

Nurse Vicki tells the story of Ogochukwu, a woman in rural Nigeria convinced she is being targeted by a mysterious vendetta marked by menacing felines. Image generated with OpenAI Miss Vicki leaned her elbows on the duty table, the smell of disinfectant mingling with the soft cry of newborns behind the curtains. "I've told this story only once," she began, her voice thin, "and the last nurse who heard it resigned the following week." The generator outside coughed and steadied. The night duty nurse leaned closer. "It began," Miss Vicki said, "with a village woman named Ogochukwu - patient record number 174/21, if you care to verify. She arrived here pale, feverish, claiming that every time she saw a black cat, she lost a child." The woman had come from Amankwo, a village folded between red-earth hills where myths still patrolled the footpaths. Her husband, Malachi Uchenna, was in Lagos hunting for jobs. Farm work could no longe...

A woman living with her parents is troubled when her recently divorced stepbrother Theo moves in and starts a relationship with their vacuum cleaner. Image generated with OpenAI Theo was spending too much time with Harry. 'How long does it take to hoover a bedroom,' I said. 'He keeps it running all night.' 'It helps him sleep,' Mum said. 'Like white noise.' It was Sunday, so we were all eating together. Mum was at one end of the table. My stepfather at the other. My stepbrother Theo, in the middle. And there, in the seat directly opposite me, was Harry with his psychotic, plastic grin. Theo got up from his chair. 'I know it sounds strange, but do you mind if I switch on Harry for a bit?' 'Of course not,' Mum said. My stepfather stared down at his bowl, bringing a spoon to his lips. 'Fine by me.' We sat in silence slurping our soup while Harry sucked up his air. 'I can't eat with that thing star...

Joan Henry must compete with a robot for her job as CEO of a manufacturing company. Image generated with OpenAI Robots have taken over most jobs, Joan Henry thought, but they can't take mine as CEO. The blonde woman on the screen must have thought otherwise. "The AI in this new model is very advanced," Gretchen Greenbrier, chairman of the Board of Directors, said. "The Board decided it's worth a test." Joan shook her head and looked out her office window toward the downtown spires of Charleston, West Virginia, two miles away. A trim, thirty-seven-year-old black woman, she turned back to the screen and faced Gretchen with an intense gaze. "You're not talking about a test. You're talking about a competition." "A competition, then," Gretchen nodded. "SteelDrive will have two CEOs today, and the best one retains the job." "How will you judge who's best ? A CEO has to be creative, visionary, persu...