“She won’t die, exactly,” Elaine said. “Hadaly-Actual is here and she’ll live on.” “Aren’t we obliged to at least try?” “No,” the two AI’s said in unison. “It is Hadaly’s persona, her decision,” Elaine said. “I know we don’t have time to get down to brass-tacks about the definition of what-is-alive, but right now Hadaly…Eigen … Read more
“I can’t upload a sample of the virus,” Elaine said. “It’s extremely contagious and I cannot let it escape the quarantine. I activated the Tesla-Faraday-Voynich barrier for that purpose. And the eldritch EMP generator has been at red-line since I activated the seal; it’s on a tripwire discharge failsafe. This virus is not escaping this … Read more
“Coming in loud and clear,” Frog said. “What now?” “I have established the diagnostic net,” Elaine said as she caught a rolling chair, sat in it, and then slid it across the room to another workstation. Her fingers danced across the keyboard like a concert pianist at a recital, flourishing single-handedly time-to-time to gesture in … Read more
[Vulnerable by Kyt Dotson is a short story in the Black Hat Magick series. It is the second-in-sequence after Invincible, published earlier on this blog.] — The Machine Bay beneath the basement of the Engineering Center sat in a state of potent silence. Its various machines and workbenches waited in sepulchral quiet until a single command from the … Read more
And predict she did. Hadaly slid between the incoming missiles like a burning butterfly—the sentry droids were fast, but she was so much faster. She felt giddy with alacrity. The first one went down in a shower of sparks when she tore through the rusting support struts beneath it. Predictors displayed a wild field of … Read more
[Invincible by Kyt Dotson is a short story in the Black Hat Magick series. If you would like to skip this and move on directly to chapter 7 click here. Otherwise enjoy!] — “Hadaly! LZ is hot!” Elaine shouted into the phone as she raced up the stairs, taking them two by two. “I repeat, LZ … Read more
To that the preacher crooked his staff in his arm, raised his Bible overhead, and then beat on it with his hand. “It’s not a physical place, sister, it’s a spiritual place. And if you don’t get right with the Lord, your soul will be burning in a very real, spiritual hell.” “And you can … Read more
Without another word she burst into motion and ran—at the fairly restrained rate of about the speed of a sprinter—up the length of Cady Mall towards a heavy clustering of college students all standing around a single orator. Elaine almost dropped her phone trying to grab Hadaly’s arm—several feet too late. “Oh fsck,” she said. … Read more
[Hadaly’s Day Out (feat. Brother Jed) by Kyt Dotson is a short story in the Black Hat Magick series. If you would like to skip this and move on directly to chapter 4 click here. Otherwise enjoy!] — Elaine powered down the Enoch and put it into energy saving mode. The small handled device, akin to a cell phone … Read more