Celeste is the daughter of the Citizen Principia, but when she stumbles upon a conspiracy and is kidnapped by rebels, the future of Verium rests in her hands. ***** Celeste Navarie is the sixteen-year-old daughter of the Citizen Principia, which means she lives a life of privilege in a dystopian world that allows no personal freedom. Celeste dreams of adventure and smuggles herself beyond the walls regularly, to purchase books and documents from the outside world. During her journeys, she uncovers a conspiracy: members of the palace staff are part of the rebellion, and she finds evidence her father is a murderous tyrant. Not sure who to trust, Celeste is kidnapped and has no way to escape. The future of Verium rests on Celeste's shoulders, and if she makes a mistake it will doom not just her, but everyone. [[word count: 50,000-60,000 words]]

A billion-dollar clone, bought and raised as an extremely dangerous weapon, strikes out against those who manufacture and harvest clones for spare parts. ***** Duplicates are used for one thing: spare parts. Kept in Emulation Facilities, brain-dead and hooked to machines, duplicates never open their eyes. As a transplant nurse, Evette Ashford knows this better than anyone -- until a living, breathing duplicate shatters her life. Merely knowing he exists drags Evette into a deep, dark world of manipulation, danger, and control. Evette knows he just wants to find himself, but the corporation that created him are furious he's broken their control. So Evette must decide who to trust: the monster who forced her into this chaos or the monster who created him. [[IC Universe People's Choice]] [[1st Place, Writers' Olympics Dystopian Award]] [[1st Place, Oscar Sci-fi Award]] Content and/or Trigger Warning: This story is rated PG-13 for violence, language, and sexual content. This story will become free on January 31st!