Machine Of Death Part 35

"So even if someone had an unambiguous prediction, they wouldn't be able to do anything about it?"

"That is correct. It's a bit like these oddball quantum phenomena we used to hear so much about, that some people thought were going to allow faster-than-light communication. A fellow I knew in college got stuck with that one as his first job out of school. Apparently everyone who understood anything about the problem knew it could never be used to send signals, but someone in senior management at his employer decided it 'just made sense,' to use the catch-phrase of the arrogant and ignorant." He shook his head sadly in memoriam to a career cut short. "Poor man. He was an absolute genius, a true prodigy in quantum information theory. I hired him as a consultant on the Delvice project, and his own contribution to the work was critical.

"It was taking quite a risk on my part, what with corporate chairs being the only secure university employment these days, and him having been blacklisted. The motto of the modern corporation is: 'If at first you don't succeed, hide any evidence you ever tried.' If that means ruining a few careers here and there it's just too bad. That was the last intellectual work he was able to secure, although I understand he has continued his own theoretical research, despite turning his hand to plumbing for a living. Which I suppose has its remuneration-financially, if in no other way.

"In any case, his experience was a cautionary tale for me, and with his advice I was able to present the final result to the board without quite falling on my own sword."

I almost smiled at the sudden image of him dressed in ramshackle armor like a knight, but had the sense to restrict myself to a weak smile. He was clearly touchy on the subject of careers ruined by the ignorant asking for the impossible. But I could hardly help asking, "But how does that work? If someone had a clear prediction, say, 'Death by hurricane,' wouldn't they be able to know that a hurricane was going to hit?"

"Yes, but when? And where? And will they be in more than one hurricane? We had great hopes for such people, but unfortunately the general principle meant that only a few unambiguous predictions could exist, and even when we could find people who had them, it gave us nothing useful. A dozen people in Los Angeles were found with 'Earthquake' predictions, but that's hardly new information. All it told us was that there would be people killed in California by earthquakes. 'Film at eleven,' as we used to say."

I let the obscure reference go. Film?

"So even in the case where someone knew they were going to die in a singular global catastrophe-a war or famine or plague-they couldn't do a thing to prevent it?"

"Not unless they can also violate the second law of thermodynamics. It would be the equivalent of building a perpetual motion machine. Strictly impossible. Even if they published their prediction, no one would believe them, or the act of publis.h.i.+ng it would cause the event to occur. Like a central banker warning of a panic and causing a run on the banks.

"As I said, the marketing people did a better job than they could possibly have dreamed when they named the Delphi Device. The Greeks understood the vagaries of prediction. They knew that knowledge can't be created out of nothing, and in this case the price of knowing one thing is the inability to do anything about it. I would have thought that someone with your name would appreciate that, Ca.s.sandra, but I suppose hope really does spring eternal among the young."

I've spent many years since then pondering what he told me, and learning far more math and physics than I ever dreamed existed in those days as a lowly actuarial a.s.sistant. I even broke into the company's archives and verified that the theoretical work the Chief's group did decades ago is sound. I've worked through the proofs myself, and I can't see any way around it.

By concentrating the knowledge of how one is going to die into a a few simple words, the same information is lost from a million other places that might prevent that occurrence from actually coming to pa.s.s. The Ignorance Theorem might be summed up as: "To know what is going to happen to an individual, there must be a loss of information about the group." And by removing information from that dynamic context, we remove the possibility of change.

I hooked up with the Chief's quantum-mechanic friend a few years ago and found he had indeed continued to work on the Ignorance Theorem. He had been able to prove that it is the act of measurement that actually fixes the individual's fate. Free will is a collective phenomenon-individuals only have it when they are an ignorant atom within a larger group. It is in the dynamics, the ebb and flow of information pa.s.sing freely between individuals in a billion small ways, that makes the process of choice possible. The group can be in a mixture of a million "information eigenstates" at once, each representing a possible future, all evolving as an uncertain whole.

The Delvice picks out one possible future from that mix and collapses the collective wavefunction into a single state relative to the fate of that individual. Which suggests there is one desperate way to reverse the process.

I am not taking this course lightly. I went back to that old back-country mall where I got my prediction so many years ago and bought their machine, certainly one of the last in existence. It was cheap. I've been testing people ever since-my job, now in the upper echelons of the insurance business, has given me access to a lot of blood samples. It isn't exactly ethical, but I have never been at risk of being caught.

I can't tell anything from the data. I wondered if there would be an increase in "Fire" predictions for younger people who were more likely to live until the bombs fell. But the Ignorance Theorem holds. There is nothing in the data that unambiguously pointed to a sudden increase in violent death. There can't be.

It was only a matter of time before the final thought occurred to me. I am the only person who knows of my prediction. Perhaps I am the only one who got it. The "meteorite man" was certainly unique in his fate. Maybe I am, too.

Suicide won't work. People tried that back in the day-terminally depressed souls who were told by the Delvice they were going to die of cancer and tried to shoot themselves or poison themselves or drown themselves. It never worked. They either failed entirely-the gun misfired, or the "poison" turned out to be candy-or they floated back to the surface and lived out their days as inst.i.tutionalized vegetables until they died, as predicted, of cancer.

What I need to do is not destroy my life, but rather disperse the knowledge of how it is going to end. If I do that, then perhaps it won't happen. It is the only thing I can think of in my increasingly desperate quest. But I must not reveal to anyone what my prediction is, or they would have to share my fate.

Fate. There's another fine Greek concept.

I've lived well these past years, knowing that tomorrow we all might die. I've never married, never had children. I regret that, if I regret anything. But I've been able to enjoy myself in ways that others, trapped in more conventional lives, might not. Known pleasures and adventures that were made all the more intense by the growing certainty that in the end I must forget them all.

I've destroyed my machine. I really hope it is the last one in existence. I've not been able to find any others. I've done a bit of other destruction, too. Archives, records. It would be hard, though not impossible, for anyone to build a new one. And if they do, I've arranged things so that they will eventually be sent all the information I have on the Ignorance Theorem and the collective nature of free will.

Penultimately, I have murdered my quantum collaborator. His body won't be found. His prediction read simply, "Ca.s.sandra." Death by me. When he first heard my name he gave a small start, and then a slow smile spread across his features and he nodded. He was a very old man, even for these long-lived times. His first words were, "I'm happy to say I've been waiting for you for a very, very long time. And I think I am indeed ready to meet you at last." He was a good friend, and helped me to understand the nature of the problem and the only possible solution. But he knew too much. If he didn't know the exact nature of my prediction he guessed the general sense of it. He had to die. And the machine said I had to kill him.

As for me, administering electro-shock therapy to yourself isn't easy, but I'm pretty sure my set-up will work. It's amazing what you can find on iBay. Complete with manuals, even. This old Russian gear is supposed to be the best.

I have it wired so there is a program of shocks that will be administered until I am unable to speak the pa.s.s-phrase, which is, as you might expect, "Global Thermonuclear War." As soon as I say it I'll be shocked again. Once an hour has pa.s.sed with no shocks an automated email will alert the building super. Just one line: "Emergency. Send paramedics to Unit 10-C." If that doesn't work, my rent is due tomorrow, which will certainly bring him to the door soon enough.

I don't know why I'm writing this, even. Before I shock myself the first time I'll scrub the drive and burn this machine.

But I guess I wanted to review in my own mind what brought this to pa.s.s. Decades of knowing, or at least suspecting that I knew, how the world was going to end. With tensions rising again in Micronesia over thermo-electric rights to the Western Pacific Basin it is time to act. If I can disperse the knowledge in my mind, turn it back into a million random acts of a million anonymous human beings, put the world back into a superposition of possible futures, it might just be enough to prevent the end.

The paramedics who are called to my side will be changed, however slightly, by responding to that call instead of some other. The doctors and nurses will have the course of their lives deflected. Perhaps I'll even make the news, changing in some small way the minds of many thousands of people who will see a story about me instead of something else. In these things I still have a choice. If not in the manner of my pa.s.sing, then at least in the manner of my living.

There is no certainty I will succeed. Perhaps I am committing mental suicide for nothing. But I have to try.

I have read a great deal on the effects of electro-shock, and there is a good chance I'll be rehabilitated. I've given much thought to what I might do with the rest of my life, and concluded that the only way to avoid future disasters of this kind is for humanity to expand beyond just one world. We have been to Mars and back. It is time to go there and stay.

The note beside my bed read simply:"Only one Earth is not enough." I'm afraid to say anything more, afraid I will give in to some subconscious temptation that would eventually lead me right back to this point.

I have done what I can. If it works, I will have saved humanity. And no one, not even I, will ever know.

Goodbye.

Story by T. J. Radcliffe Ill.u.s.tration by Matt Haley

Contributors Camille Alexa lives with fossils, dried branches, pressed flowers, and other dead things in of an Edwardian house in the Pacific Northwest. She's fond of big dogs, warm bread, post-apocalyptic love stories, and the serial comma. Her short fiction collection, Push of the Sky, Push of the Sky, earned a starred review from Publishers Weekly and has been nominated for the Endeavour Award. More at earned a starred review from Publishers Weekly and has been nominated for the Endeavour Award. More at camillealexa.com.

John Allison lives near Manchester, UK and intends to keep positive despite all the evidence suggesting that he do otherwise. See his comics and his upbeat att.i.tude at scarygoround.com.

Kate Beaton draws men in fancy hats for a living. On an exciting day she'll draw a character with epaulets. Her website is harkavagrant.com.

Matthew Bennardohas livedin Cleveland, Ohio, for the past twenty years.Hisstories havepreviously been publishedin Asimov's Science Fiction and Strange Horizons, among other markets.He can be contactedat: [email protected]

Brandon Bolt draws cartoon pictures in order to eat, and has made a variety of other unclever life decisions. Perhaps you will be affected by one of them one day. To start, read the cartoon he draws at n.o.bodyscores.com. There is also a portfolio site at n.o.bodyscores.com if perhaps you are interested in having some pictures drawn, which experts concede is possible. if perhaps you are interested in having some pictures drawn, which experts concede is possible.

Vera Brosgol spends her days drawing storyboards for animation in Portland, Oregon. At night she produces ill.u.s.trations and comics, and her first book, Anya's Ghost, Anya's Ghost, will be published by First Second in Spring 2011. Her website is will be published by First Second in Spring 2011. Her website is verabee.com.

Jeffrey Brown is the author of numerous autobiographical graphic novels such as Clumsy Clumsy and and Funny Misshapen Body Funny Misshapen Body as well as humorous work including as well as humorous work including Incredible Change-Bots Incredible Change-Bots and and Cats Are Weird. Cats Are Weird. www.jeffreybrowncomics.com Scott C. is Scott Campbell, art director for Psychonauts Psychonauts and and Brutal Legend Brutal Legend at Double Fine Productions. Scott has done numerous comics that have appeared in such anthologies as at Double Fine Productions. Scott has done numerous comics that have appeared in such anthologies as Hickee Hickee, Flight Flight, Beasts! Beasts!, and Project: Superior. Project: Superior. He has also painted many clever little paintings that have shown in such places as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Montreal, and j.a.pan. He has also painted many clever little paintings that have shown in such places as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Montreal, and j.a.pan. scott-c.blogspot.com Mitch Clem has made a ton of comics, including My Stupid Life My Stupid Life (published by New Reliable Press) and (published by New Reliable Press) and Nothing Nice to Say Nothing Nice to Say (published by Dark Horse Comics). Everything about him lives at (published by Dark Horse Comics). Everything about him lives at mitchclem.com.

Daliso Chaponda is a writer & comedian who writes fiction on trains as he travels to stand-up gigs.His fiction is often dark and depressing to compensate for the vacuousness of his night-job.He has beenshortlisted for the Carl Brandon Society Award,Northwest Breakthrough Comedian Award, and so on.He likes strawberries. www.daliso.com John Chernega lives in southern Minnesota with his wife and sons. Aside from a few corporate catalogs, "Almond" is his first published work. You can read his blog at cherney.vox.com. He keeps a nondescript business card on his nightstand that says "Clumsy Hippopotamus", but he refuses to divulge whether it's from a machine of death, or if he's been moonlighting as a clumsy hippopotamus.

Danielle Corsetto is the creator of the webcomic "Girls With Slingshots," the comedic story about two girls, a bar, and a talking cactus, which can be found at girlswithslingshots.com. She lives with two cats and a 9-year-old goldfish in Shepherdstown, West Virginia in a very old house. These days she spends most of her time drinking alone and talking to herself.

Chris c.o.x is a deranged, one-eyed hunchback wandering by night through the wastelands of Pawtucket. His age isn't known, but sightings go back three hundred years and he's generally believed to be a cannibal. Author of one and a half phenomalous black comedy novels, he's represented by ParkEast Literary Agency, with whom he only communicates via cryptic notes written on apples injected with larvae. Needless to say, he's a tricky one. [email protected] Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw was born and raised in England but now lives in Australia. Primarily a gaming writer, he is responsible for the "Zero Punctuation" video reviews at The Escapist online magazine. His first novel, Mogworld Mogworld, has been published by Dark Horse Books. He can be reached through his personal site at fullyramblomatic.com.

Alexander Danner writes and teaches comics. His most recent series is "Gingerbread Houses," a retelling of Hansel and Gretel ill.u.s.trated by Edward J. Grug III. "Gingerbread Houses" and other fairy tales can be found at picturestorytheater.com. More of Danner's stories and experiments can also be found at twentysevenletters.com. He is co-author of the textbook Character Design for Graphic Novels, Character Design for Graphic Novels, and he teaches Writing the Graphic Novel at Emerson College. and he teaches Writing the Graphic Novel at Emerson College.

Aaron Diaz gave up a life of professional science to draw comics on the internet. He shares a name with a Mexican pop star. dresdencodak.com Rene Engstrom is a cartoonist and ill.u.s.trator living and working out of ostersund and Malmo, Sweden. She has just wrapped up the 300-page online graphic novel Anders Loves Maria Anders Loves Maria. reneengstrom.com Jess Fink is the author of We Can Fix It: A Time Travel Memoir, We Can Fix It: A Time Travel Memoir, published by Top Shelf. She has seen the all-knowing s.p.a.ce Rainbow and eaten its gummy heart. She also makes T-s.h.i.+rts. Her erotic webcomic about a Victorian robot is at: published by Top Shelf. She has seen the all-knowing s.p.a.ce Rainbow and eaten its gummy heart. She also makes T-s.h.i.+rts. Her erotic webcomic about a Victorian robot is at: jessfink.com/Chester5000XYV James Foreman lives in Pittsburgh and is probably drinking coffee. He blogs about his life's esoterica at: jamesforeman.com.

Tom Francis is a writer and editor for PC Gamer magazine and PCGamer.com. He keeps a pet blog called James at pentadact.com, and you can e-mail him at pentadact.com Rafa Franco was born on a wee town in Argentina 27 years ago. Graphic designer by trade, he has had some art and a couple of articles published where you will never find them, and has managed to unwillingly produce some small-time freelance graphic design work. Like an idiot savant, he roams the muddy slime of mediocrity and has the common sense to let the occasional spark of creativity out to the world. If you feel like traveling fifteen thousand miles south to the city of La Plata near Buenos Aires, you may catch him starring in a play as a 70-year-old backwater wh.o.r.e. Or you can reach him at [email protected] It's okay.

Dorothy Gambrell is the last living American to enjoy listening to the radio. She draws unfortunate cartoons on a regular basis at catandgirl.com.

Shaenon K. Garrity is the creator of the daily webstrips "Narbonic" and "Skin Horse" (the latter co-written with fellow contributor Jeffrey Wells), as well as many other comics both on- and offline. She occasionally writes scripts for Marvel Comics, a disproportionate number of which involve department-store Santas. She also works as a freelance manga editor for VIZ Media and teaches at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. She lives in Berkeley with her husband, Andrew Farago, and their neurotic cat Tesla.

KC Green does comics online and off. He did some comics for Nickelodeon magazine and then they closed their doors. He blames himself every day. Currently he does the webcomic "Gunshow" at gunshowcomic.com, but for how long until his unfocused, child-like mind wanders on to something else? You can try to find more of his work, old and new, at his unfinished website gunshowcomic.com.

William Grallo is the son of Lou. He was the winner of the Will Inman Award for Poetry and a runner-up for the Ursula K. LeGuin Award for Imaginative Fiction. He has had fiction published in Rosebud magazine and online at alwaysblack.com.

C. E. Guimont lives in Berlin, Germany.His previous two novels, The Ten Lies She Told Me and The One or Two I Told Her The Ten Lies She Told Me and The One or Two I Told Herand That Business With the Rabbit That Business With the Rabbit are in Staten Island's Fresh Kills dark archive. are in Staten Island's Fresh Kills dark archive.

Matt Haley is best known as a comic-book ill.u.s.trator for DC, Dark Horse and Marvel. Currently drawing the sequel to Bada.s.s Bada.s.s (Harper), he directs film and watches j.a.panese kids' shows when sober. (Harper), he directs film and watches j.a.panese kids' shows when sober. matthaley.com Christopher Hastings is the creator of The Adventures of Dr. McNinja. The Adventures of Dr. McNinja. He lives in Brooklyn with his fiancee, Carly, and their dog, Commissioner Gordon. You can read his comic for free at He lives in Brooklyn with his fiancee, Carly, and their dog, Commissioner Gordon. You can read his comic for free at drmcninja.com, and you can email him for free at drmcninja.com Paul Horn is an infographics journalist, ill.u.s.trator and man-about-town. His comic "Cool Jerk" is found in finer comics shops and at cooljerk.com. He and his wife Darlene live in San Diego and enjoy writing blurbs in the third person.

Sherri Jacobsen writes copy for movie marketing by day, and rewrites copy for finicky movie marketing executives by night. This is her first appearance in a publication not bound by staples.

John Keogh is an itinerant rambler with fists of steel and a nose for trouble, currently roughhousing his way through New England. You can see him try to do right by his kin on lucid-tv.com.

Karl Kerschl has been drawing comics professionally for 15 years. He has worked on Superman, The Flash, Robin Superman, The Flash, Robin and and The Teen t.i.tans The Teen t.i.tans, among other heroic things, and is the author of the Eisner-nominated webcomic "The Abominable Charles Christopher." More of his work can be found at karlkerschl.com.

Kazu Kibuis.h.i.+ is the creator of the Amulet Amulet graphic novel series for Scholastic Graphix and the graphic novel series for Scholastic Graphix and the Flight Flight comics anthology for Villard Books. He lives and works in Alhambra, California. comics anthology for Villard Books. He lives and works in Alhambra, California. boltcity.com Adam Koford is the creator of a book called The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Sell Out. The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Sell Out. During the day he works for a video game company making secret things he's not allowed to talk about unless there's an official public relations envoy present. During the day he works for a video game company making secret things he's not allowed to talk about unless there's an official public relations envoy present. adamkoford.com Douglas J Lane's narrative weirdness has appeared in Tales of the Unantic.i.p.ated Tales of the Unantic.i.p.ated and and Pure Francis Pure Francis, and can be found in the forthcoming anthology Seasons In The Abyss. Seasons In The Abyss. He currently juggles his day job with his work on a novel and a flaming chainsaw. He can be reached-and might even reply-at He currently juggles his day job with his work on a novel and a flaming chainsaw. He can be reached-and might even reply-at [email protected]

Roger Langridge is currently the cartoonist behind the Eisner- and Harvey-nominated Muppet Show Comic Book Muppet Show Comic Book and writer of Marvel's all-ages superhero book, and writer of Marvel's all-ages superhero book, Thor: The Mighty Avenger Thor: The Mighty Avenger, putting in occasional bursts of activity on a web strip, "Mugwhump the Great", whenever he gets a spare moment. His past credits include his multi-award-nominated self-published comic, Fred the Clown Fred the Clown, and being co-writer and artist of Marvel's Fin Fang Four. Fin Fang Four.

K M Lawrence may be writing in Ireland, or may be writing in England. Either way, he can be contacted at kludgeco.com.

David Malki ! is the author of the Eisner-, Harvey- and Ignatz-nominated comic strip "Wondermark." His latest collection is Dapper Caps & Pedal-Copters Dapper Caps & Pedal-Copters, published by Dark Horse Books. He lives in Los Angeles and he likes to fly airplanes. Read comics, contact him, etc. at wondermark.com.

Erin McKean is a lexicographer (look it up). She lexicogs as the founder of Wordnik.com, and blogs about dresses at dressaday.com. She has written one novel, four books about wacky words, and enough email to cover the entire moon with a layer of alphanumeric characters five ems deep. She has written one novel, four books about wacky words, and enough email to cover the entire moon with a layer of alphanumeric characters five ems deep.

Brian McLachlan makes two webcomics: "The Princess Planet" and "Smooth N Natural." He does a lot of work for kids, including stuff for Owl magazine, Nickelodeon magazine, Nelson Textbooks and the graphic novel Ticket To s.p.a.ce Ticket To s.p.a.ce for Scholastic Canada. Basically, a lot of children have probably added moustaches to his ill.u.s.trations. He's also worked for Vice, YM, Dragon, The Toronto Star, Oni Press and other incongruous publishers. for Scholastic Canada. Basically, a lot of children have probably added moustaches to his ill.u.s.trations. He's also worked for Vice, YM, Dragon, The Toronto Star, Oni Press and other incongruous publishers.

Kevin McShane is a cartoonist, designer, actor, filmmaker, writer, photographer, and a dozen other things that won't impress you either. He can be found digitallyat kevinmcshane.org.

Dylan Meconis is the creator of Bite Me! Bite Me! and and Family Man Family Man. Should one come across her tricorner hat (lost in a pheasant shoot), please send it home to dylanmeconis.com.

Camron Miller is an amateur writer and cla.s.sics student. A graduate of St Bees School and the Lawrenceville School,he divides his time between the University of London, the Surrey Hills, and a seaside village near the Lake District National Park. He can be reached at [email protected]

Carly Monardo lives and draws in Brooklyn, NY with her fiance and their ridiculous dog. A graduate of the School of Visual Arts Animation Program, Carly has worked on such shows as Sunday Pants, SuperNormal Sunday Pants, SuperNormal, and Venture Bros. Venture Bros. She also works as a freelance ill.u.s.trator. You can find more of her work at She also works as a freelance ill.u.s.trator. You can find more of her work at whirringblender.com.

Randall Munroe, a cartoonist from southern Virginia, is the creator of the webcomic "xkcd" (xkcd.com), one of the most popular comics on the Internet. Formerly a roboticist at NASA, he now makes a living writing comics. He spends his time drawing, traveling, and training computers to beat humans at Rock-Paper-Scissors. He lives in Somerville, Ma.s.sachusetts.

Nation of Amanda enjoys using swear words and painting and drawing comics, not in that order. She currently lives with, is engaged to, and frequently collaborates with Mitch Clem who cannot even believe how awesome she is. Her blog lives at nationofamanda.livejournal.com.

Ryan North is an author who lives in Toronto, which is in Canada. He writes a comic strip called "Dinosaur Comics" which you can pick up in book form at your local bookstore, or which you can just read for free at qwantz.com. They're pretty okay! You can reach him through his website.

Pelotard has worked at Microsoft in Dublin, at the European s.p.a.ce Agency in Noordwijk-an-Zee in the Netherlands, and has found his degree in theoretical physics completely useless in his current careerat atranslation agency. He lives outside Stockholm, Sweden, with his family, and can be reached at [email protected]

Ramon Perez is an overcaffeinated Canadian who likes to draw picture books for the likes of Marvel and DC Comics, while at the same time indulging his own peculiar muse by regaling the world with tales such as "Kukuburi" and quirky comedies the likes of "b.u.t.terNutSquash." For a deeper foray into his mind and meanderings visit ramonperez.com.

Brian Quinlan recently earned a degree in English with a concentration in Creative Writing at Virginia Tech.He has yet to decide what the h.e.l.l he'll do next.Brian can be contacted at: [email protected] T. J. Radcliffe is a mercenary scientist and poet living in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. When not sailing or hiking he writes poetry to go with the whimsical and beautiful images created by Hilary Farmer at greenteadoodles.wordpress.com, with whom he has a graphic-novel/epic-poem/web-comic in development. He is also working on a self-referential novel about the nature of stories called Metastory Metastory, helps mentor a FIRST Robotics team, is an adjunct professor at Queen's University working on cancer genetics, pretends to keep a day job, and has serious plans to get some sleep in the late fall of 2037. He can be reached via his website: greenteadoodles.wordpress.com Jesse Reklaw has been drawing the weekly comic strip "Slow Wave" since 1995, and has two collections published: Dreamtoons Dreamtoons and and The Night of Your Life. The Night of Your Life. Find more online at Find more online at slowwave.com.

Katie Sekelsky lives in Pennsylvania. She has had ill.u.s.trations published with the Harvard University Press and featured in Cooper-Hewitt's National Design Triennial. Her work can be seen on her mother's refrigerator (by appointment only) and at ksekelsky.com.

Gord Sellar is a graduate of Clarion West 2006, and has lived in South Korea since 2002. His writing has appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, Clarkesworld, Interzone, and Jetse de Vries' s.h.i.+ne s.h.i.+ne anthology, as well as in anthology, as well as in The Year's Best Science Fiction The Year's Best Science Fiction Vol. 26, Vol. 26, edited by Gardner Dozois. He was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2009. Visit his website at edited by Gardner Dozois. He was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2009. Visit his website at gordsellar.com.

Kean Soo is the author and ill.u.s.trator of the Jellaby Jellaby series of graphic novels. He spends a distressing amount of time on the Internet, and not enough on his website, series of graphic novels. He spends a distressing amount of time on the Internet, and not enough on his website, secretfriendsociety.com.

Jeff Stautz lives in Vancouver, Canada. He is the Fiction Editor of PRISM international PRISM international, is a former Fishtrap Fellow, and was a writer-in-residence at the Montana Artists' Refuge. His work has appeared most recently in The First Line The First Line and is forthcoming in and is forthcoming in Event Event.

Cameron Stewart is the multiple-award nominated ill.u.s.trator of Batman & Robin, Seaguy, Catwoman, Batman & Robin, Seaguy, Catwoman, and and The Other Side. The Other Side. His serialized online graphic novel His serialized online graphic novel Sin t.i.tulo Sin t.i.tulo won the 2010 Eisner Award for Best Digital Comic, and can be found at won the 2010 Eisner Award for Best Digital Comic, and can be found at sint.i.tulocomic.com.

Kris Straub is the cartoonist behind the webcomic "Chainsawsuit" and the sci-fi humor saga Starslip. Starslip. He's also co-author of the Harvey Award-nominated He's also co-author of the Harvey Award-nominated How To Make Webcomics, How To Make Webcomics, published by Image. Kris has lived in every city in America for at least one second. published by Image. Kris has lived in every city in America for at least one second.

James Lafond Sutter is the Fiction Editor for Paizo Publis.h.i.+ng, creators of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. He is the award-winning author of numerous game products and short stories, and his fiction has appeared in such venues as Black Gate, Catastrophia Black Gate, Catastrophia, and Apex Magazine, Apex Magazine, as well as been translated into several languages. His anthology as well as been translated into several languages. His anthology Before They Were Giants Before They Were Giants pairs the first stories of SF greats from William Gibson to China Mieville with new interviews and writing advice from the authors themselves. For more information, visit pairs the first stories of SF greats from William Gibson to China Mieville with new interviews and writing advice from the authors themselves. For more information, visit jameslsutter.com.

Marcus Thiele (familiarly known as Marcus Parcus) Marcus Parcus) disappeared under mysterious circ.u.mstances at the age of 27 and was hastily replaced with a life-like replica. The pretense of his continued existence and artistic output is maintained through the silence, exile and cunning of the skilled estate representatives at disappeared under mysterious circ.u.mstances at the age of 27 and was hastily replaced with a life-like replica. The pretense of his continued existence and artistic output is maintained through the silence, exile and cunning of the skilled estate representatives at themonkeymind.livejournal.com.

Kelly Tindall is Canadian, and his drawings can be found all over a bunch of Image comic books. Go say "hi": kellytindall.blogspot.com.

Dean Trippe is an alien robot ninja wizard (from the future) who makes comics. He is a former comic shop manager, a lifelong superhero fan, and has an actual degree in comics. For more of his work, visit deantrippe.com.

J Jack Unrau is a freelance writer and vagabond librarian whose work has appeared on Wired.com, CBC Radio and in Broken Pencil. Living in China taught him valuable lessons about taking pictures of riot police. J's online home is thedubiousmonk.net.

Bartholomew von Klick lives beneath a bridge in Missouri, emerging only to collect a toll from pa.s.sers-by. He sometimes mutters about all the things he would like to eat, but has not yet been able to kill. He has thirty-six cats, and a beautiful wife who rises from the grave every night to hunt and bring him snacks from the orphanage.

Julia Wainwright lives in Suffolk, England, where she writes stuff, makes things, and grows 0.1 percent of her own food. She's just happy to be here. Julia can be reached at [email protected]

Jeffrey C. Wells is the co-creator of the award-winning webcomic "Skin Horse", found online at skin-horse.com. He himself has also won awards, but they were for things like "Worst Opening Line of a Science Fiction Story", so if you want to award him with things so he no longer feels inferior to his own webcomic, that would be great. He lives in the wilds of rural Wisconsin with a wonderful spouse, a dial-up modem, and more pets than you can shake a stick at. Watch him do his thing at skin-horse.com David Michael Wharton () is a freelance writer and journalist from Texas. When not sweating in the trenches as an editor for Creative Screenwriting Magazine, he hammers out screenplays and short fiction and swears one of these days he's going to get around to that novel, d.a.m.n it.

Shannon Wheeler is the Eisner-winning creator of the comics Too Much Coffee Man, Postage Stamp Funnies Too Much Coffee Man, Postage Stamp Funnies and and How To Be Happy. How To Be Happy. His cartoons appear regularly in the New Yorker. His cartoons appear regularly in the New Yorker. tmcm.com Living deep in the savage lands known as the 'Dirty Jerz,' Kit Yona runs an auto salvage yard, adds income via poker whenever possible and plays rugby with an enthusiasm that far outstrips any athleticism he might believe he possesses. In his lack of spare time Kit edits and writes for the fantasy book review site The Griffin or the Agate (thegriffin.com) to justify the time spent getting his Masters degree in English. He blames his appearance in this tome on his beautiful muse of a wife, Laura. He can be tormented/hara.s.sed/contacted at thegriffin.com

Copyright

This book is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. This allows you, the reader, to share, email, upload, download, seed, and torrent this entire book (or the ebook found at machineofdeath.net).

And please do! Futhermore, most of the individual stories within this book are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license. This further permits you to alter, transform, translate, adapt, or build upon them, so long as the following conditions are met: You must attribute the work to its author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). You may not use the work for commercial purposes. And you may only distribute the resulting work under the same or a similar license to this one.

For-profit transmission, re-publication or adaptation of this book or any of the stories within is specifically disallowed by this license-for any commercial use, please contact the respective authors.

The following stories appear in this book under a different license: "Flaming Marshmallow" A. Camille Renwick. Some rights reserved under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. You may share this story, but not change or adapt it in any way without the consent of the author.

"Almond" John Chernega. All rights reserved.

"Vegetables" Chris c.o.x. All rights reserved.

"Shot by Sniper" Bartholomew von Klick. All rights reserved.

No transmission or adaptation of these stories individually is permitted without the consent of the author. All other stories are released under the BYNCSA license above.