The swarm arrived at the beginning of the week, their language that of war, and humanity the patient listeners.

After all this time, I had guessed the shape wrong.

From Guest Contributor S.R Malone

Death and beauty were bound by love.

All inevitable, all wondrous and all binding.

From Guest Contributor Michelle Vongkaysone

In hindsight, it a was generous offer by the aliens. Submit to genetic engineering and humanity’s intelligence would be doubled.

She yawned. “They gave us intelligence, but you have opposable thumbs. There’s going to be plenty of manual work for you humans to do.”

From Guest Contributor Ross Clement

When the robots took over the Earth, their collective aim had been to eliminate the human threat. Once accomplished, their greatest fear became the introduction of a virus code that could cause permanent damage.

The service officers of the Shuminelectra Corporation were taught an abundance of protocols designed to prevent a crisis. They practiced the politest forms of speech, ran through dozens of foreseeable threats to public order, and were authorized to neutralize all potential disruptions. Shuminelectra Corp. provided the most efficient quality control platform in the entire new territories.

So it was that long after the planet had been abandoned, a group of officers were still operating at full efficiency. They truly were a marvel of engineering. Their decision to banish humanity had ensured that service would run smoothly for centuries to come.

Hernando lowered himself into his chair and began the painful process of unbandaging his feet. The mines took a lot out of him and the thought had crossed his mind many times that surviving might not be worth the effort anymore. He winced at the bloody mess. Even if he’d once been the one lecturing his friends on the need to keep fighting, no matter how small the act of resistance, he was now reaching the end of his resolve.

But if humanity was ever going to win back its freedom from the outerworlders, Hernando could not abandon all hope.

Today’s Story was based on a prompt from Lillie McFerrin Writes.

“I can make you the best in the world at one thing,” said the leprechaun.

A few moments later, a giant asteroid collided with the Earth. Over the next several months, humanity died off in the apocalyptic conditions. David was the last human alive.

Sentience is defined as a state of awareness of one’s own existence. For most of history, humanity believed we were the lone species to enjoy true consciousness. We were wrong.

In a total non-surprise, the fundamentalists are calling them angels.

I was fifteen the year information came alive. Before that, we had a vague sense that information was becoming more dangerous, that there was a potential for catastrophe, but everyone was too busy making money to worry much about the ramifications.

It’s still an open question which is more powerful. But either way, the days of humanity dominating the Earth are long over.

For Stephen Samenlego, even the simple act of walking across the street was a chore. He prepared for the ordeal with a regimen of ointments and black market pharmaceuticals that he applied to his most delicate areas. His biggest fear was someone would notice his discomfit and so he plastered over his features to look as resplendent as on celluloid.

His passings always attracted enormous attention. Samenlego often thought the crowds mocked him, that they considered he was somehow undeserving of his unrivaled celebrity. Being the world’s greatest film star has the effect of isolating you from your fellow humanity.