Hahn reflects on the world as it existed in 2076, before the war, and how the devastation unleashed by the war shaped the lives of the survivors. Hahn is keen that the school boy, Eugene, grasps that, while there were huge changes in technology before and after the war, the most important change was in people, and their attitude towards each other and the planet on which they lived....

Eugene’s brow furrowed. ‘You mean you could choose who died?’ ‘Oh yes.’ Hahn’s tone was matter of fact. ‘But now I venture onto the territory of state secrets! Not only were we implanted with health chips, those of us who thought we were important were implanted with tags that identified our status. This was updated in real time. So if my car was in an accident with another, and there was a possibility that one car would be so badly damaged its passengers would die, one of the decisions taken by the cars’ on-board computers would be which passenger was higher status and should have the higher chance of survival.’ Eugene looked astonished, ‘But how could that happen?’ ‘You have to remember that our computers worked at a phenomenal speed and there was plenty of time for them to check which car carried the higher status individual and redirect that car to minimize impact on them. That might involve a far worse collision for the other car and its passengers.’ Eugene shook his head. ‘Weren’t people outraged at this?’ ‘That’s where the state secret came in. No one knew this happened, apart from the agency that monitored status, and t...

A pamphlet of 20 pages of poetry.

Iridescent blues flash in fiery sunset: swallows flying like crossbows.

A story of witchcraft in the age of computing.

Down in Dr Diverse’s digestive system, Bertie was clinging on to Miss White for all he was worth. Foul juices churned around him, and he had to fight to stay attached to Miss White as the muscles of the digestive tract contracted round the frog to drag it further and further towards the dragon’s stomach. That wasn’t all. The smell was awful. It reminded Bertie of the day he was hiding in the compost heap and Jim tipped a slurry of rotting cabbage leaves over him. His wings had stunk for hours, even after he’d flown backwards and forwards through the lawn sprinkler whenever Jim’s back was turned. And this time there was an additional torture. His ears hurt with all the noise of the muscular contractions and liquid slopping about. Slowly, and with difficulty, he tried to crawl along Miss White’s back so he could get to her head and talk to her. But it was a battle he was losing as he was getting more and more tired....

Two short stories, each looks at life in the future. In Evermore, an old lady finds solace in a gift from her husband. In Pants, a son supports his elderly mother using an unusual nurse....

From Evermore: The moment the great glass doors of the shopping mall slid silently open, Miriam regretted her decision to come. She hadn’t visited the mall for over a year and was horrified to find herself besieged by scantily clad young men and women, all jostling to persuade her to visit their shop. They were astonishingly beautiful: tall, graceful, perfect features, with large eyes and ideal bodies....