Robert Arvay's Science Fiction Blog

a quick story by Robert Arvay   It was over.   He could no longer deny it.   The entire universe had come to this:   desolation.   Only one man remained.   He stood alone, between life and final extinction. He gazed up at the night sky, for it was now an eternal night.   The light of a few dim stars reached him across the void, light that after millions of years only just now found him.   The stars that had sent them were long since dead.   These last few dim flickers were all that were left, distant memories, and even these fading memories would soon be gone.   Final darkness would fill the universe. Why, he asked. Trillions of years had passed.   It had all begun with a flash of light, a happenstance event with no reason, no purpose, no goal.   Why? Untold billions of men and women had been born, lived and died.   They were forgotten now, save for the few that lingered in his failing memory.   Soon, he too...

(A Brief Science Fiction Story) by Robert Arvay Greetings, members of the governing assembly. I am K3421977049, better known as 7049 to most of you here. As you know, 473 years ago, our fore-parents undertook the great transition, giving all of us the true equality which previously-existing humans had sought for millennia. We became androids, part machine, and part human, at least in the biological sense. The transition was wildly successful. Race disappeared. Sex disappeared. Intellectual disparities vanished, as we implanted computer chips into our brains. Physical strength became meaningless, as our machine-bodies were all equally strong. In every respect, we were all equal. Today, as I look upon this governing assembly, I am pleased and proud to notice that—well, to notice what I do not notice. I do not know what race any of you are, for there is no race. I neither know nor care what sex you are, for there is no sex. Reproduction is done by incubation, so that no one kno...

  Retro Murder a short science-fiction story by Robert Arvay They say you can’t change the past, but now I’m not so sure.   I think I may have done that.   Allow me to explain, and then you decide. It began many years ago, when I was an armed security guard in a warehouse complex.   There had been a lot of theft there, involving top-of-the-line electronics.   Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment had gone missing.   Each warehouse was assigned a roving security guard.   We each had a radio so that we could call for backup in case we saw nefarious activity.   Although we were each given a thirty-eight caliber revolver, we were under strict orders not to use them except in self-defense.   If at all possible, we were to report any thefts in progress, and then to retreat to safety until police arrived.   Strict orders. My best friend was a guy named Norman.   He and I had been in the Army together, in combat. ...

At first, there were normal explanations.   Weird things were happening, but they could all be explained.   Witnesses are known to be unreliable.   Calculations can be in error.   Optical illusions do in fact occur.   No matter how strange something may at first seem, if one digs deeply enough, there is always an ordinary explanation.   Always. Except that there were too many of them.   At first, they seemed minor.   A misplaced item would be found in a locked safe.   An automobile would change color.   An ancient manuscript turned up in a public library—a new library. Soon, everyone had an unusual anecdote, and some speculated that some mass hysteria was to blame.   A large, dragon-like sea serpent washed up on a beach.   A pilotless aircraft crash-landed in a field; it was a fighter plane from World War One.   A large, black cloud emanating lightning was seen by thousands, appearing as if from nowhere, and after an h...

The story I am about to tell is so extraordinary that I am afraid I will not be believed.  Even more afraid am I, that after reading this, you will not remember having done so.  I know that that can happen, because last month my story was published on the front page of every major newspaper in America, and on the cover of every major magazine, and yet today, no one remembers any of that. The fact is that my identity has been erased.  My birth records, my academic records, and my stellar career—all of that was removed from the public record, in an effort to silence me.  But I will not be silenced.  I will continue to speak out, until the truth is finally acknowledged. I was born on January 8, 1948 on a small farm in Kansas.  However, that is only the beginning of the record that has been destroyed.  At the age of three, I exhibited such extraordinary intellectual advancement that the government took me from my parents (who no longer remember me), an...

This is a top secret document.  You are not authorized to read it.  You are hereby ordered to place your computer into a shredder, eat the particles that result, and then commit suicide.  After that, you are to report for debriefing. A vital secret weapons project is underway at, well, I can’t tell you where, except to say that it is at Langley Air Force Base, building 632, room 243.   Forget I said that.   It’s a secret. The project officially began in Tokyo , in 1943.   For those of you unfamiliar with history, Japan was at that time at war with the United States, and was bombed heavily beginning the following year.   It is important to remember this fact throughout the rest of this document.   Bear it in mind.   No, wait, forget it. At a secret laboratory in Tokyo in 1943, the Taimu Toraburo ( 時間旅 行) project began.   If Taimu Toraburo sounds like the words, “Time Travel” spoken in a Japanese accent, that is no coincidence. ...