Here we are again, right back at the beginning. Well, not quite the beginning. The beginning of March, at least. And the end of another month. The official summer sinks beneath the horizon.
FICTION
A Series of Unlikely VHS
Alien Polymers
Dissonant Song 2
Flora of the Frostwood
Of the Tel-Ur and the Battle Planet
On the Queen Named Blasphemy
One Oh One
People of the River
Storage of the Sacrosanct
The Temperance of Stone
Three Dots
ARTICLES
Coffee and Air-Conditioning
Continuity of Consciousness
POEMS
DRAWINGS
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Most theories of teleportation work around a concept similar to the cut and paste function on a computer. First, at the point of departure, the computer creates an exact digital replica of you, which contains all of the information they require in order to reassemble you at your destination.
At the moment of teleportation, the original you is ‘cut’ from existence and a new version of you is simultaneously ‘pasted’ at the other end. To put it simply, you are replaced by an exact replica—every cell, organ, limb and thought, recreated by a biological weaving machine.
The copy would presume themselves to be you and would act how you would act. To the outside world the copy would be indistinguishable. For all practical purposes it is you. And yet… it is not.
Your old self exists no longer and instead a copy now walks in your place.
For these reasons, I would urge anyone who reads this to not enter into any teleportation devices unless you can be guaranteed continuity of consciousness.
Unregulated replicating teleportation devices have been misused in dozens of places around the Universe and are banned in many jurisdictions. Other methods of teleportation: no-clip, rubberbanding or the so-called ‘slippery lens’ method are among the most safe non-replicating teleportation devices currently in use.
The coffee burnt my lip because the milk is too hot. I can see the outside through a gap in the blinds and it is so bright.
Plants wilt and wither beneath the pulsing, nuclear heart of the sun and dirt dries and concrete cracks and the air draws the moisture out of everything until nothing remains but husks.
It is quiet and it is still.
There is only the blue sky and the sun. And us below.
The birds hide from the heat in the shadowy branches of unmoving trees. I sit inside, in air-conditioning, burning my lip on milk that’s too hot.
The coolness of the air is pleasing and even from where I am sitting, with the cool air rolling over me, I can see the outside through a gap in the blinds. It is so bright.
Stone wears away, but does not break. And if it does, it breaks not of its own volition.
The stone is shaped by the wind and becomes smooth, or it is crushed and becomes as another.
The stone does not want, or wait, or wonder.
The stone does not ask.
A stone sees nothing, for it does not need to see.
A stone does not feel the hand that presses against it, for a stone does not feel.
Stone wears away, but does not break. And if it does, it breaks not of its own volition.
Don’t accept average. Don’t merely be “good”. Your only option is to be the best; to be the greatest.
To do this you must destroy everything that stands in your way. You must erase them. You must demolish each obstacle and reshape the world around you until you are indistinguishable from the dust that remains.
Silence all dissent. Burn and destroy.
Forge your will the way the earth forges diamond. Become the hardest substance. Become the only thing of value. Become invulnerable.
Become everything until nothing is left except you. Become the forbidden light and the blindness that results.
Know only darkness and that you have become the greatest. You have ended everything. You are the only. All that exists are you and you are all that exists.
Now: Let there be light.
ARTICLES
Dissonant Song
Into this New World
Put on the Hat
POETRY
Kind of Dramatic
Skies Grow Dark
The Door Strains
Punching Gravel
Witherbank
FICTION
Containing Chaos
Excerpt from Elsinore’s Diary
Monolith Protrusions and Their Effects
Of the Cherax
The Fifth Disturbance
The Michaelean Library
The Eighth Day of Apollo
DRAWINGS
And the Stars
Broken Torch
Saskatchewan
Space and Time
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In Apollonian Caladon, each week was divided into eight days. The eighth day was reserved exclusively for worship at the Apollonian temples around the city.
The most notable feature of this worship was the process of blood-letting, during which members of the congregation would be selected for scarification. Although this scarification was believed to be random, although there is no specification along these lines in any of the remaining literature pertaining to the subject.
In truth, the Apollonian cult ruling over the city was a blood cult secretely devoted to summoning Nergal, the dog-faced poisoner.
Apollonian Caladon was ended during the Pythonite revolution, after which the city succumbed to the God-Craze.
Of the Cherax, that terrible species that was responsible for the destruction of Los Pelos, little is known.
Typical Cherax range between 7′ and 12′ long, possess six legs, two strong front claws and jagged, gnashing mouth-pieces. Their bodies are protected by chitinous armour; only the underbelly, eyes and antennae are vulnerable to attack.
The Cherax are an aquatic species not known to leave the water except to carry out rapid and brutal invasions of landborne settlements. The purpose of these invasions remains a mystery, as the Cherax quickly abandon the ruined cities they have destroyed, taking nothing with them, and return to the water.
Many believe that the Cherax may be controlled by some separate guiding intelligence, but whether this would be in the form of some “Prime Cherax” or alxeetnr unencislef is unknown.
i’m so sad
that i want to punch gravel
until the flesh of my hands
is stripped away
and only bloody stumps remain
bones snapping and crunching
mangled remains
useless now
i strain and i scream
because it hurts so much
i have no hands left to punch with
and i’m still so sad
Michael Scott Hand 