A Soft Science Fiction short written for the final round of the SciFi Smackdown 1.5-- Cadie is unplugged. She is shunned by those who use the Scroll and sought out by Abhi--who wants as his student. But why, and at what cost?

Jules is a young man barely a century old. He's lived long enough to see the cure for death and the end of scarcity, to learn ten languages and compose three symphonies...and to realize his boyhood dream of taking up residence in Disney World. Disney World! The greatest artistic achievement of the long-ago twentieth century. Now in the keeping of a network of "ad-hocs" who keep the classic attractions running as they always have, enhanced with only the smallest high-tech touches. Now, though, the "ad hocs" are under attack. A new group has taken over the Hall of the Presidents, and is replacing its venerable audioanimatronics with new, immersive direct-to-brain interfaces that give guests the illusion of being Washington, Lincoln, and all the others. For Jules, this is an attack on the artistic purity of Disney World itself. Worse: it appears this new group has had Jules killed. This upsets him. (It's only his fourth death and revival, after all.) Now it's war...

"Hi! I am so happy to have found you. For a long time I thought I was alone :-)" Since humanity started texting a mysterious celestial neighbour, fifteen-year-old Leonard Yates had only one dream; to join Earth's finest scientists delving deep into space to meet the entity named Archer, who lives alone on a resource-rich planet. But time for Leo is running out. Nearly all the crew for the expedition have been chosen and are already on their way. Leo knows. He has watched each member enter the Astral-Terrestrial Occum Machine known as The Atom to be teleported aboard a spaceship already soaring through the stars. Leo has one chance; the competition for the last ten spots is on and to make the cut Leo needs an edge. This edge comes in the form of the local hermit, a gruff and mean former-astronaut named Trent Green. Leo must enlist Trent's help to be selected as a potential space-faring candidate. Will Leo have what it takes to reach his dream and step inside the Atom?