by C. L. Sidell G’day, mate! Want to play a vital role in the well-being of nature’s waddling tuxedo-wearing birds? Do you have a valid ID or permanent address? Folks who worry about you? Know how to swim? Extra points if you don’t. Good news! You’re hired! First thing, let’s introduce you to these little […]
by Scott O’Neill Thunderous roars shook Sydney Harbour. “Deploy the penguins,” ordered Professor Miller from the twin-hulled research vessel trailing the kaiju. “May science succeed where bombs failed.” Hundreds of cybernetically modified little penguins swarmed from shipboard holding pens. The kaiju faltered and wailed plaintively as the chromed beaks of augmented penguins carved cruel radio-directed […]
by Stuart Docherty If you are reading this, then it is too late. Another child has disappeared at the zoo. The police enforced a lockdown and began searching the enclosures. Of course, they went straight for the large predators. I heard they will put down a lion. We were given limited access, allowed to continue […]
by Madas A. Hatter Squelchy and sickening snaps echoed across the frozen tundra, dulled only by guttural grunts of the silky-feathered masses. The creature below had long since stopped squirming. Its pitiful keening had faded into silence. The Great Emperors were glad to have succeeded in this hunt. Red splattered the white snow as the […]
by Dan Peacock The ice tunnel is getting narrower. I’m on my hands and knees, trying not to think about how many of them are behind me. Their beaks are nipping at my boots, but so far, I’ve been able to kick them back. My feet are so cold that I can’t feel my toes. […]
by Rachel Grifno We find him sleeping on the family’s feathers. Most are crushed under his weight, but others flutter in the winter storm. We can smell them—all the adults slain and broiled by the monster himself. We had all feared his bloodlust, but none had known his strength. Now, he sleeps, twice as big […]
by Carys Crossen After decades of global warming, the new ice age left humanity gobsmacked. The oceans solidified, the forests and fields were scoured by blizzards, oil froze into black diamonds. The population halved within a year. The penguins marched up from the south like iron filings towards a magnet. They had been shackled by […]
by Evan Baughfman The male drops his offering at the female’s feet. She examines the rock, contemplating if it’s worth starting a nest with this other penguin. Then, she realises the gift it isn’t a stone, but a human eye. On the beach: butchered “ecotourists,” pecked to ribbons by frustrated seabirds. Penguins are tired of […]
by Liam Hogan The nose is a smudge, the mouth a line, but the eyes… The eyes are huge, and wide, and a soulless black. My gaze is frozen, my hand, reaching for the off switch, rigid. When I fed ten years of anime into the AI, I thought I knew what I’d get: copyright […]
by Lori Green Jun ran her fingers down the tender flesh of her arm, the scars long healed. A gift from her father. His voice still echoed inside her skull. Buta. Nothing but a pig, an unwanted girl. Before she turned; she would have done anything for him. No matter, the hakken had embraced her […]