Starholder

Valois

  • Valois

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    by

    Spaceman
    in , ,

    Valois – An Immortality Project (working title) is a work in progress novel that explores the ethical implications of AI, our desire to live on after our death, and our obligations to our children. It is part of a larger effort called the Starholder project which investigates low probability, high impact events which have the possibility to reorient…

  • Mr Snuggles and the Smuggler’s Run

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    by

    Spaceman
    in , ,

    Xander Veritas was a man who had seen the dark corners of the universe and survived. He carried the weight of a thousand stories etched into the lines on his face, the scars that marked his body, and the ghosts that haunted his dreams. The cosmos had tried to crush him, to snuff out the flickering…

  • Culture Broker

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    by

    Spaceman
    in , ,

    This short story first appeared on Stealcam as memories 16377 & 16388. It was co-written with GPT4 exploring the concept of an NPC who trades emotions within a simulated grand strategy game called The Four Moons of America. Part One Parch sat in a dim corner booth at the Luna Lounge, nursing a highball. Neon cast…

  • Mary And The Moon In Water

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    by

    Spaceman
    in , ,

    In a luxurious apartment in the heart of the virtual world of Four Moons of America, a group of NPCs gathered to discuss the latest news of the Valois‘ assault on Tyro. The living room’s occupants included Ada, a skilled cybernetic engineer with a penchant for philosophy; Levon, a wise and battle-hardened former general; and Isolde, a…

  • Funky Way

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    by

    Spaceman
    in ,

    Matt was nestled on the edge of the yard, under the dappled shade of an aging pomegranate tree. In this familiar, warm cocoon of nature, he couldn’t help but be pulled back into a distant memory, one of him lying amidst the scent-laden pine needles, under the watchful eye of his childhood home’s pine tree,…

  • Almond Al’s Dream

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    by

    Spaceman
    in , ,

    As Almond Al settles into his chair, the evening breeze weaving through the leaves of the almond trees, he feels the grip of the day slowly loosen. The sun dips below the horizon, a tangerine haze fading into the twilight. His eyelids grow heavy, and as his head nods, the world around him dissolves into…

  • Terrace Me To Death

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    by

    Spaceman
    in , ,

    Note: The story below is a setup for an interactive mystery. It ends on a breakthrough in the case, setting up a direction for future exploration and completion. It’s the year 2033, and there’s an extreme heat wave. The metal on the condos by the ocean is rusting prematurely due to the corrosion from the…

  • Almond Al’s Joint

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    by

    Spaceman
    in , ,

    Almond Al reclined on his porch, a joint in one hand and a hot cup of tea in the other. The sky was a clear expanse, the stars were the artist’s specks of light, scattered across the inky black. But Al’s gaze was fixed on one celestial body, the full moon, an eerie thin orange…

  • The sugary slickness of promises

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    by

    Spaceman
    in ,

    City sky had come down like rain, a silver deluge sluicing through silicon alleyways and circuit board cul-de-sacs, cascading into the digital sea. The boy, or was it a man? – time was a slippery thing here – sat at the edge of the world where pixelated waves met the sand. A shack stood behind…

  • All Would Be Chance

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    by

    Spaceman
    in , ,

    In the incandescent glow of the Pixel Emporium, Chance Norwood had an air about him. A post-modern Prosperity Gospel Evangelist, born not in the pew-lined sanctuaries of the American South, but in the frenzied digital forums of NFT marketplaces and crypto subreddits. His previous life as an NFT trader had served him well, too well…