/lit/ - Literature

Here's the paperback cover, made by the wonderful cover-anon. Thanks for your patience getting the book up. I think it's our best anthology yet. Unintentionally Becoming a Very Important Swing Vote might be the story that most surprised me: at first I had no idea what to make of it, but it quickly became one of my favourites. That said, so many other authors surprised me with their prompt interpretations. Each flash is a pleasure to read.

Thanks Editor-Anon, Cover-Anon, and all contributors! Excited to add this to my shelf!

Niggers

>>19440168
This edition is great. Loving every story.

>>19440168
Awesome. Awesome to the max. You guys kinda disappeared for a while.

>>19440221
It’s a tough call…but I think my favorite may be ‘Micro Wedding’.

>>19440168
Thank you guys for making this possible. Whether you are editor-anon, cover-anon, or just wrote one story, I had tons of fun doing this for the first time and want to try my hand at this again going forward.

>>19440168
The links for simian deluxe arent working?

>>19441360
They seem to be working for me…

For the goodreadsfags:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59682564-simian-deluxe

>>19440852
>You guys kinda disappeared for a while.
Yeah, the plan was to finish Simian Deluxe much sooner, but a work project and getting sick got in the way. Thankfully cover-anon was patient and made the cover super fast once we had the final book file.

>>19441352
Please do! In the interim, it could be fun to run a flash fiction thread (or pop into /wg/ and ask for a prompt then post your story). I think the key is to enjoy the writing and not take it too seriously. And you could also start a substack or some kind of blog to post all your flashes in a collection, just as an archive to refer people now and then and for yourself.

>>19440256
Me too! The three anthologies will look great together.

>>19441295
I love how absurd it is. It really got me laughing.

YEE-HAW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQo1HIcSVtg

>>19440168
Do we have a new prompt list from the last thread?

>>19443184
>Unused prompts
A closet full of skin suits
A dating app with extraordinary risks and rewards
The academy of Paranormal Life Coaching
A man attempts a world record
This will be India in 5 minutes
The last sheet of paper in the world
What? I can’t hear you!
A first responder who summons tornadoes
A grizzled detective goes undercover on 4chan
You reap what you sow
"Please don't forget what I told you"
The location the GPS took them to seems to be a little off
A tapestry constantly being added to
Murder in the Cathedral's sanctuary
The cellar houses wine and... bodies?
Finding a one-of-a-kind book in the library stacks
A co-worker has a hidden talent
A shut-in decides to go trick-or-treating
The best way to die on a dessert island
Horrible timing for a pregnancy announcement
Swimming through memories
A game of twister at a nursing home
There is a ship museum in Utah
A librarian goes blind every Thursday
Someone crashes a child’s birthday party
POV of an alley cat in Istanbul
An unusual item at the bottom of the sea
Pina coladas and long walks in the rain
A gateway opens between hell and earth
a slasher villain's first date

>>19443369
>A man attempts a world record
Can I re submit the javelin one I did from the last thread? I posted it after the cut off, thinking stories would just roll over into the next volume.

>>19443445
I’m not editor-anon, but Javelin was a damn good one! Whether it makes it into the next volume or not, you wrote a great story.

Maybe, whenever the next thread goes up, someone might propose ‘A man attempts a world record’ as a new prompt…

>>19443445
The next volume will be in 2022 sometime, unless someone else runs it before then. The way I've run it, only stories posted in /ffa/ threads during the anthology submission window (based on a thread prompt etc) are eligible for the anthology. So, stories posted between anthologies are ineligible. But anyone can organize a /lit/ anthology and compile stories as they please.

>>19443492
OK I'll just hold onto it until a suitable purpose presents itself.

>>19443484
Thanks a lot anon

>>19443369
>The last sheet of paper in the world
Working on this one

>>19441360
>(epub and pdf)
remove "(epub and pdf)" from the link retard

>>19440168
>>19443369
>The last sheet of paper in the world

TEZ-707 finished scanning the hallway. Next to it was a glass door, and a piece of the buckled ceiling frame was hanging in the way, blocking the door from opening correctly. TEZ simply kicked through the glass of the door, stepping through. Now it was in a large, mostly empty room. From the crumpled white screen on the floor TEZ could see that the humans must have used this space to project and present employment related presentations to each other. There were stacks of plastic chairs along the back wall.
Lens|Laser|Remote.Reciever|Power.Supply|Main.Board
No.Desk.Computer
No.Additional.Technology

There were various worthwhile components to be found. TEZ moved toward the small wooden cabinet in the front centre of the room, where the projector was likely placed. The cabinet was overturned, and the projector was lying on the floor.
Using the various motorised tools within its manipulator appendage TEZ swiftly disassembled the case of the projector, storing the the more complex components in his abdomen cavity as he catalogued their condition in his harvest/recycle database. The lens arrangment was particularly valuable, viable in the production of another TEZ unit. TEZ-707 was itself utilizing a projector lens for its viewer/scanner aperture. The components were in distinction-merit condition.

The building itself was in unusually good order. This particular room was undisturbed. The P-3 drones had not entered it, or flagged it for entry, in their sweep of this region 35 years ago. The blocked door had stopped them from initialising a direct observation, and the glass door and windows meant that they could perform a visual sweep with high efficiency. The P-3 drones did not have clearance to attempt glass breakage entry - they were not robust enough to justify this against their cost-benefit status. The potential of a projector value was mid-high, but this was not then enough to justify the expenditure of summoning a G2-2 to follow in the wake of the P-3 sweep and perform breakage measures. It may have been that the P-3 did not successfully triangulate the presence of the projector from the evidence-reference of the crumpled white screen on the floor.

1/3

>>19444567

The multi-role abilities of the TEZ models were far superior to many of the older models, making the TEZ models an instant replacement for 5 different machine branches at the same time. The TEZ had improved exploration-retrival performance, as well as superior individual computation, and high grade macroscopic descision system reference. TEZ-707 had spent these first 4 years of its activation lifespan exploring code-orange map regions just like this one, where the harvest/recycle sweeps had not fully maximised the efficiency of the macroscopic retrival directive. TEZ-707 itself had specifically gained a retrival to self-value ratio of 11.3/1 via purposeful re-exploration of specific oversight flaws such as this blocked room. The small amount of remaining humans had increased their world population size by 2.45% since the manufacture of the TEZ mechanoid line.

The HDMI cable plugged into the projector was trapped at the other end, underneath the overturned wooden cabinet. Probably intact. The remaining humans had incorporated certain elements of old world technology into current use, and HDMI cables were considered high-low value for this reason. Using its clawed manipulator, TEZ-707 grasped the edge of the cabinet and lifted it.

TEZ-707 froze. Every single one of its current use processes had cancelled, one after the other. It carefully lowered the cabinet back down, stood up, and stepped away. TEZ-707 was now running purely on macro integration special circumstances directives. It stepped to the far outer window and broadcast the appropriate data stream to the nearest comm site. Then it ripped the blinds from the window, throwing them into a pile in the corner. Distantly, TEZ-707 picked up the faint audio of an alert siren on its ambient microphone.
A welding torch projected from its manipulator. TEZ-707 neatly cut a window out of the frame, leaving only two narrow corner bridges on the top. TEZ-707 stood there, motionless, awaiting the arrival.
19 minutes.
-
-
-
At Countdown.45 seconds TEZ-707 deployed the welding torch once again to cut out the remaining corner sections from the window, pushing the window glass outward so it would fall to the ground seven floors below and smash. The glare of a bright headlight fille the room. TEZ-707 stepped away from the window, parking itself against the wall to ensure complete freedom of movement for the approaching mechanoids.

2/3

>>19444578

Outside, a special systems 303 dronecopter gunship hovered downward from overhead, stopping just above the modified window. It deployed an articulated ramp into the room, which clicked into place. A small P-9 science drone flew silently into the room, followed by an unregistered TEZ-Z Custom with a carbon black spray profile. In its gait momentum and footprint acoustics, the TEZ-Z displayed a 9.72% increase from the standard model TEZ design weight tolerance as it walked down the ramp.
The TEZ-Z stood next to the wooden cabinet, and placed its manipulators on the corners. The P-9 levitated down onto the carpet, landing next to the wooden cabinet. As the TEZ-Z lifted up the cabinet, the P-9 drove under it using it's wheel motors, and produced a flat tray scoop that it neatly slid underneath the sheet of paper. It slowly and carefully retracted the scoop back, storing the page inside of itself. The P-9 reversed back on its wheels, took off into the air again, and flew directly back into the side hatch of the 303 gunship. The TEZ-Z walked back onto the ramp and exited the room.

As soon as the TEZ-Z had entered the gunship, a standard P-4 drone flew out of it, entering the window. It buzzed over to TEZ-707, still standing to attention against the wall. From a slot in the front of its interface the P-4 printed a barcode, and neatly pressed it onto the chest of TEZ-707 using its manipulator. Then, the P-4 produced a nozzle from a hole in its front interface, and sprayed a plastic laminate over the barcode to protect it from dirt and wear. The P-4 flew out of the window, back into the gunship. The 303 gunship retracted the ramp, hovered back out of view, and rapidly accelerated toward the horizon.

TEZ-707 returned to standard operations, resuming all previous processes from where they had ceased. It walked back over to the cabinet, lifted it up, and finally retrieved the HDMI cable. It coiled it up, then placed it inside its abdomen cavity. Time to return to the depot.

3/3

>>19444567
>as he catalogued their condition in his harvest/recycle database.
I should have said its, not 'his'
It was supposed to be an 'it' all the way through

>>19444590
>From a slot in the front of its interface the P-4 printed a barcode
I should have specifically called it a plastic barcode now that I think about it.
If a single sheet of paper is an amazing discovery then the use of printed paper should have been abandoned by these machines.

>>19440168
>it finally came out
Nice. Good job everyone, I think all of the stories turned out really well. The Judas Goat story is my favorite. That ending is really well done. I figured it might be useful to have a strawpoll to vote for our favorite stories, so I made one.
https://strawpoll.com/7hv4jr6f4

>>19445401
Great idea! Wish we had one of these for prior threads…

>>19444590
I really like this story! Great approach to the prompt—we actually see very little (or mention) of the paper. So much is implied. I like our robot protagonist too.

>>19445401
Ah...choosing 3 will be hard

>>19445485
>we actually see very little (or mention) of the paper
I though the same too. I thought it was an interesting choice to make it incidental to the whole plot. We (the reader) know that it was the last sheet of paper on earth, but none of the bots know or care. I’m sure that’s a scary accurate depiction of how many of ‘the last [insert object]” meets their end.

nice

>>19445485
thanks anon

>>19443369


>>19444590
I forgot to add a prompt
>A flooded castle, sinking into the mud

>>19440168
Nice work, anons (in editing and in writing)! Here's to more!

>>19447599
>>A flooded castle, sinking into the mud

I’ll give this one a go

>>19443369
>>19440168
>Swimming through memories

Fvin stepped out of the water. The technicolour drops fell off his pale blue skin, falling upward toward the distant white mist above him. They evaporated before they could reach it. He had found a small island in The Sea of Recall, and so he waded out of the water to investigate it. He had been swimming continuously for several months without stopping, and in that time he did not swim past much of interest at all, until now.

The island had a patch of trees in the centre, and some large stones. The trees were palm trees, but when Fvin glanced at them next, they were pine. He walked toward the small wooded area. At the roots of the trees lay glowing metal eggs, the colour of brass. As he looked at them another glowing egg fell from the high branches of the willow tree above him. He bent down to pick one up, and spent a moment enjoying the novelty of the pleasant item.

'It's been a long time since someone found this island.'
Fvin turned around to see there was a large face on the surface of the large stone behind him.
'Oh...Hello.'
'You must take one of those eggs with you. It may create another island somewhere else in the Sea, though it will take a long lifetime for the shell to open.'
'I see.'

The face was nearly as big as Fvin's torso, and grey like the stone that housed it.

'How did you come to dwell here?'
'Ironically, for one who lives in The Sea of Recall, I do not remember. The time when I was alive was so very, very long ago. Several tens of thousands of years I suspect.'

The trees were now river birch, and their paper bark shed rapidly onto the floor, turning into dust as soon as it landed.

'And yourself? You still seem quite humanesque. Five hundred years?'
'Seven hundred years.'
'Ah.'

1/3

>>19449534

The strong sea current that led Fvin to this area was one of regret, flowing counter to a greater general drift flow of greedful fantasy and erotomania.

'My purpose right now is to find a flotilla of ships, white ships with white sails. The flagship is an immense leviathan, on which a towering statue sits upon a throne. I must speak with the statue. Do you know of such a fleet? Have you seen them nearby?'

The face in the stone furrowed its brow in concentration.

'...Eeeehhhh......Once I saw them, but it was some long time ago. Perhaps seventy years. They went north.'
'I see.'
'Yes. Not much help I suppose, but, as I'm sure you have found out for yourself, not much ever is in these ethereal beyond realms.'
'That is often the case.'

The trees suddenly turned into rose bushes, and then just as quickly turned straight into Papaya.

'Will you do me a favour, traveller?'
'What might that be?'
'Can you take that dish over there, and collect some water for the trees? Just a small splash for each one will be quite enough.'
'No problem at all.'
'...And if you don't mind, you could give me a splash while you're at it. It's been a strong hundred years or so since I have touched The Water of Recall.'
'Of course.'

Fvin picked up the dish, which turned out to be a small, round, silver shield. He scooped up a measure of the scintillating rainbow seawater from the shore and dripped it around the tree roots. Then he scooped up another measure, and thew it across the rock face of the spirit he had been speaking to.

2/3

>>19449551
'Aha! I was an Atlantean soldier, and that was my shield. There we go.'

Fvin chuckled and put the shield back down.

'The memory is the first thing to go.' The face smirked and winked at Fvin.

Fvin threw his head back with laughter, and as he did so he heard his own voice repeated many times over. The trees were imitating him, copying how he laughed.

'This is a fine island you have here. I don't believe I have asked you your name?'
'Oh no, I don't know that one. I won't remember it even if I drink the whole damn sea. What's your name?'
'Fvin.'
'Well Fvin, your boats are known as the Trine Armada. The statue you wish to meet was the emperor of a great and ancient civilisation when he was alive. He's nearly as old as me, but I think you'll find he isn't anywhere near as forgetful. He'll surely give you whatever it is you seek. Anymore, I do not know.'
'Thank you, noble spirit. May you rest in peace.'
'I surely will, journeyman Fvin. There is not much else to do here.'

The trees began to slowly change again, this time growing into large ash trees that crowded into each other at the leaves.

'I must leave now, as my duty awaits. Farewell, Atlantean.'
'Fare thee well.'

And with that the face receded back into the stone, leaving no trace.
Fvin strolled back to the shoreline, preparing to continue his distant and lengthly journey. As he looked out, a broken piece of white driftwood approached the island, floating lazily past on a vibrant red-pink swirl that cut through the blue-green of the major current.
'To the north I go.'
He dived in, swimming quickly toward the splintered beam. He grasped hold of it, and was immediately granted a clear vision of a sail barge being destroyed by a powerful bolt of lightning, as the white flotilla rode upon the great crests of turbulent storm waves.
'Hmm.'
Fvin let go of the driftwood, and turned toward the north. He began to swim toward his distant duty.

3/3

The prompt is -
>An elevator that doesn't work

bump

>>19449534
Very dreamlike, reminds me of one of my favorite stories from volume 1: “A Man Crosses an Ocean by Himself II”

>>19449561
The spontaneity fits the prompt well and I like the slice of life structure. Calming, but not directionless.

how in the devil did this get an advert?