HorrorAddicts.net Press presents…Kill Switch
As technology takes over more of our lives, what will it mean to be human, and will we fear what we’ve created? What horrors will our technological hubris bring us in the future?
Join us as we walk the line between progressive convenience and the nightmares these advancements can breed. From faulty medical nanos and AI gone berserk to ghost-attracting audio-tech and one very ambitious Mow-Bot, we bring you tech horror that will keep you up at night. Will you reach the Kill Switch in time?
A Sneak Peak Inside…
TRAVELS
JERRY J. DAVIS
The phone had been ringing for quite a while.
Dodd noticed the ringing. Then he noticed it more. It was like he was coming back from somewhere down a long hallway to find a phone ringing at the very end. Then it took him a moment to realize he should answer it, being it was his phone.
He tore his eyes away from the large 3-D television screen and looked around his living room. His girlfriend was there along with some other friends, all of them staring at the screen. The phone rang on. No one noticed but him.
Dodd struggled to his feet and walked across the living room to the adjacent kitchen. He groaned. The time display on the telephone’s screen read seven-past-midnight. What was he doing still awake? It was a work night. The caller was probably Toby’s wife calling to get him to come home.
Dodd picked up the handset and touched the button to accept video. Instead of Toby’s wife, it was a cartoonish avatar for DeliveryMart.
“Hello, Dodd Corley! Sensors indicate that you are engaged with numerous guests watching a program and your refrigerator reports low stock on wine, beer, and snacks. Can we send more?”
“Um, what? How did you—”
“Great!” The avatar’s generated smile gleamed, and a twinkle showed in its cartoon eyes. “We’ll send it right over.” It broke connection and the screen displayed the date and time.
12:10 am. He had to get up for work at 5:30 am.
I’ve got to get these people out of here. He walked back into the living room.
“Okay, it’s time to call it a night. It’s way past my bedtime.”
No one looked away from the television. No one made a move. His girlfriend, Sheila, was only a few feet away, and she hadn’t heard a word he’d said. She stared at the screen with glazed eyes, breathing slowly through her slack mouth. Colors from the giant screen reflected over her white face.
He reached over and shook her.
“Are you asleep?” he asked.
“Huh?” She blinked, then turned and looked at him. “What?”
“I said, are you asleep?”
“Oh.” She held out her empty wine glass. “Can I have a refill?”
“A refill?”
“Yes, please.”
“Sheila, I …”
She smiled sweetly at him. “Please?”
Dodd took the glass and headed back to the kitchen. This is getting out of hand. I’m just going to go to bed with them here.
In the kitchen, he opened the refrigerator and kneeled down, holding Sheila’s glass under the tiny silicone spigot. A pale red liquid dribbled out, Vinny’s Uncommon ‘41, the best hydroponic wine money can buy. Sure enough, it was almost gone. The screen on the refrigerator indicated more was on order.
Haunting, racing music drifted in from the television—the endless soundtrack of the Travels Station. It seemed to spin around him in the air, the stereophonic sound bouncing through the kitchen. As he listened, he forgot what he was doing, swaying back and forth to the gentle rhythm. As he finished filling Sheila’s glass, he got another for himself and filled it as well. The Travels music was so relaxing. He felt light. He took the two glasses of wine back into the living room and eased himself down on the couch next to Sheila.
“Here,” he said.
Sheila took the glass wordlessly and ducked as he put his free arm around her. Dodd sipped the wine and the image of the rolling ball on screen pulled at his eyes like a magnet. For a moment he resisted, looking over at his friend and co-worker, Bob Recent. He was cuddling with his wife, Denise, at the opposite end of the couch. Both held empty wine glasses in their slack hands, and Dodd felt guilty he hadn’t given them refills. His other friend, Toby Whitehouse, was beside the Recents in an over-stuffed chair. He, too, was holding an empty glass.
Didn’t I have something to tell them? He couldn’t remember. The screen reclaimed his attention.
The surreal, multi-colored sphere had made its way down to a virgin beach. Early-morning sunlight streamed through large, mist-shrouded waves as they crashed ashore, and gulls soared in the lazy glowing sky. Music surged and ebbed with the scenery, never stopping and never repeating itself.
Dodd raised his wineglass to his mouth, but nothing came out, it was already gone. He let his hand drop, forgetting the glass, watching as the sphere bounced higher up on the beach, rebounding off rocks and driftwood, hitting patches of sand, and sending up clouds of slow-mo drifting particles.
Suddenly, he couldn’t see the screen. His eyes struggled to focus on a dark silhouette, inches from his face.
“Hey,” a voice said. “Been ringing for a while, man. Had to finally let myself in.” It was the DeliveryMart android with his groceries.
Dodd glanced over at the time display. It was close to 2:00 am.
“Jesus!” he exclaimed.
“You’re frying your brain watching that stuff,” the android said. “Touch here.”
Dodd touched his finger to the reader in the android’s palm, accepting the delivery. The machine was right. They were frying their brains. He stood and turned around to say something to Sheila, but she was still staring at the screen. Bob and Denise were equally oblivious.
He helped the android put away the groceries and said goodbye, then returned to the living room. For a moment, he considered just going to bed and leaving them to themselves, but Bob and Denise had to work just like he did. Maybe all he had to do was remind them of the fact.
Dodd leaned over his stack of video components and hit the main power button.
“Hey,” he said in a loud voice. “It’s after two in the morning!”
******************************************************
EDITED BY:
DAN SHAURETTE
& EMERIAN RICH
STORIES BY:
H.E. ROULO, TIM O’NEAL, JERRY J. DAVIS, EMERIAN RICH, BILL DAVIDSON,
DANA HAMMER, NACHING T. KASSA, GARRETT ROWLAN, DAPHNE STRASERT
PHILLIP T. STEVENS, LAUREL ANNE HILL, CHANTAL BOUDREAU, GARTH VON BUCHHOLZ
Available now on Amazon!
Posted in Announcements, Anthologies
Tags: Dan Shaurette, Emerian Rich, HorrorAddicts, Horroraddicts.net, Jerry J Davis, Kill Switch, Travels
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Sumiko Saulson 