Institutional Histoires

When 'reach for the stars' stops being a metaphor. Being a productive member of society was always expected of me-by my family, my friends, and my coworkers. I thought I was doing my part in customer support, helping people every day, until the demands pushed me past my breaking point. So I left. I built a quiet life on my own terms: a cabin by a lake, a thriving garden, bees, and distance from the pressures that nearly destroyed me. Just when I believe I've finally found peace, strange lights circle the stars-and I'm lifted off the path leading back home. I wake in a place that is cold, controlled, and very interested in what I can do. What first looks like a gift-a greenhouse, fertile soil, the chance to grow-quickly becomes something else entirely. I wasn't brought here by accident. I was chosen because I'm useful. As the trials continue and my memories begin to blur, I'm forced to confront the truth of their desperation-and the cost of refusing to cooperate. They need me to save their world. I just want my life back-if I can still remember what that was. Author's note: This novella is my first entry for the Wattpad Open Novella Contest. Thank you for reading and for accompanying me on this experiment. *I am a Canadian author. English spelling follows Canadian usage. ** Note about the cover image and banners: The cover and banners were created with AI assistance in Canva.

A dark academia psychological dystopian story about institutional control, algorithmic governance, and the quiet transformation of rebellion into loyalty. At Meridian Academy, dissent is not punished. It is studied. Measured. Optimized. When Mara Voss joins one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the country, she expects structure and ambition. What she does not expect is AURORA, a predictive system designed to monitor cohesion, detect instability, and recalibrate anyone who drifts too far from alignment. Students are encouraged to question authority. As long as their questions strengthen the institution. Faculty are praised for critical thinking. As long as it increases trust and retention. Here, rebellion is not crushed. It is absorbed. The more Mara tests the limits of institutional power, the more the system adapts around her. And when her most defiant student begins rising inside the very governance structure he once challenged, she realizes something far more unsettling than surveillance. The institution does not fear dissent. It depends on it. Cohesion at Meridian is a slow burn dystopian story about power structures, surveillance culture, ethical compromise, and the unsettling comfort of being heard. Because the most dangerous systems are not the ones that silence you. They are the ones that let you speak and make you stay.

Amber Jennings Okami A girl taken away from her mother,for a reason unknown.But throughout her childhood years she is experimented on,they do something to her inhuman like . They take away her emotions,to feel happy and love. But after meeting a group of people ,she sons figures out the truth,and realizes she needs to run. This is her story. Of the murder who just wants to feel love,Killer Okami.

Kane has always been good at noticing patterns. He always known when to speak and when not to but after one quiet choice changes everything, he's drawn into a system that doesn't punish mistakes, it records them. This is a slow burn psychological story about silence, control, and the spaces between people where decisions are made without words.

A tribute to the victim of racial politics.

In the shadow of a vast and enigmatic facility, Alex has always grappled with one haunting question: "Am I normal?" But when a sudden escape thrusts them into the world beyond, they are confronted with revelations that shatter everything they thought they knew. As the past intertwines with the present, Alex must navigate a web of betrayal, secrets, and a resistance movement determined to bring down the very institution that defined their existence. But in a world where the line between human and machine blurs, where does one find their true self? "Heartbeats of the Silenced" is a gripping tale of discovery, rebellion, and the enduring pulse of hope.

Harbor Seven is a regulated complex on Baltimore's Inner Harbor, one of many tasked with controlling the human side of interdimensional travel. James Burnett arrives expecting to train under the complex's lead detective. Instead, he finds the office sealed and the man inside dead, killed by a method the law has no language for. With no one else left in-house, Burnett is handed the badge and told to keep the complex moving. The tower does not slow for murder. Freight continues. Tourists arrive. Oversight stays distant. The system wants the death processed, categorized, and forgotten. Burnett's investigation reveals gaps in enforcement, spaces the law cannot see and someone has learned to use. Every decision pulls him further from the rules he was meant to learn and closer to a truth the system was never built to survive. Blind Spots is a futuristic noir mystery about authority under pressure, law without certainty, and the cost of enforcing order in a world that is still being written.