So many felt unsettled.  Something was wrong and thinking it was right was almost a crime.  By that evening there were few people out, many staying home to play the game.  Even colonists who never played computer games tried it—everyone said that, for the first time, the game was totally realistic about their lives.     Sally…

Continues ->

Earlier that morning, George left Shallot’s home willingly with the medics.  It would be embarrassing and futile doing anything else—he would have preferred running, buying himself some time.  Instead, he complied—he would be hunted–and quietly rode in the van to the Clinic.  At the front desk he filled out a questionnaire, had blood taken, was…

Continues ->

Shallot had never worn a protection suit.  The suit felt thin, light, protecting against the cold and Martian air.  Suits for underground use were far less bulky than those worn outside the dome—no solar radiation to deal with, no searing winds.  Sealed into the suit, she breathed, cautiously at first, bottled air.  It smelled and…

Continues ->

In the Mayor’s office there was no room for wavering about life or feeling alone.  There was only reality.  Which occasionally included wavering about life and feeling alone.  Responsible, isolated.  Madeline leaned back in the plush chair, kicked off her heels and grunted, tired.  Her leg ached, arthritis, but she refused to use her cane…

Continues ->

Below them her bed, above them the dome, sealing in the colony from the reality of Mars.  Completed in 2225, today–a hundred years later—still the sole colony.  The reality of Mars intervened in plans for the future.  By now the clear dome had eroded to a light orange/brown, matching the endless barren landscape outside.  Cracks…

Continues ->