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    Volume 4: Superpowers
    Volume 4: Superpowers
    Volume 4: Superpowers
    Ebook128 pages1 hour

    Volume 4: Superpowers

    By Inaccurate Realities

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    About this ebook

    If you could have any superpower what would you choose? And how would you use that power – would you be a hero? Or a villain? Or are those words simply a matter of perspective? These stories take classic science fiction and make it someone’s brave new reality.

    Featuring:
    “The New Age” by Eleanor Pender
    “Dancin’ in the Rain” by Kimberly Kay
    “Save the Day” by M R Zapp
    “Retro-causality or the Allergy of Genghis Khan” by John Herman
    “Nothing But Fear” by Aspen Bassett

    Inaccurate Realities Volume 2 also contains interviews with Amelia Kahaney, Christopher E Long and LeighAnn Kopans and reviews of Sekret by Lindsay Smith, Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones, and V is for Villain by Peter Moore.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherInaccurate Realities
    Release dateAug 17, 2014
    ISBN9781310600883
    Volume 4: Superpowers
    Author

    Inaccurate Realities

    Inaccurate Realities is a literary magazine for young adults and the young at heart. There is no denying that people of all ages are now reading YA, but when we looked around we noticed a significant lack of publications focusing on YA short fiction – especially genre fiction. Our emphasis here at Inaccurate Realities is on speculative fiction, in all its forms. Science fiction, fantasy, paranormal, horror, dystopian, steampunk, cyberpunk, alternate history and everything in between.

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      Book preview

      Volume 4 - Inaccurate Realities

      Inaccurate Realities

      A Young Adult Speculative Fiction Magazine

      Volume 4

      Superpowers

      Inaccurate Realities: A Young Adult Speculative Fiction Magazine

      www.inaccuraterealities.com

      Volume Four

      Editor: Christa Seeley

      Assistant Editors: Andrea Modolo, Sara Eagleson

      Proofreader: Danielle Webster

      Cover Art: Sara Eagleson

      Image Credits: Canstock Images csp4150225, csp10353693, csp10692111, csp1027248

      Copyright ©2014 The Authors

      ISSN: 2292-0056 (Print)

      ISSN: 2292-0064 (Online)

      ISBN: 978-1-499269-01-7 (Print)

      ISBN: 978-1-310600-88-3 (Online)

      Published by Inaccurate Realities at Smashwords

      Inaccurate Realities is a quarterly magazine.

      Published out of Toronto, Ontario.

      Contributor guidelines for writers and artists are available on our website or can be requested through:

      submission.inaccuraterealities@gmail.com

      Table of Contents

      Letter from the Editor

      The New Age by Eleanor Pender

      Dancin' in the Rain by Kimberly Kay

      Save the Day by M R Zapp

      Retro-casuality or the Allergy of Genghis Khan by John Herman

      Nothing But Fear by Aspen Bassett

      Interview with Amelia Kahaney

      Interview with Christopher E. Long

      Interview with Leigh Ann Kopans

      Book Reviews

      Recommended Reads

      Contributors

      Submission Information

      Upcoming Issues

      Letter From the Editor

      Superheroes are everywhere right now. You can’t go anywhere without seeing Captain America’s smiling face (or Batman’s frowning face). The superhero genre has invaded every nook and cranny - movies, games, clothes, bed sheets. Today I even bought Spider-Man cookies. And we were very tempted to tap into that trend, as well, and make the theme for Volume 4 superheroes.

      But the more we thought about it, the more we realized that superheroes are only part of the story. They’re a symptom of a deeper issue - the superpowers themselves. 

      Everyone wants to have a superpower. Whether its flying, invisibility, telepathy, adamantium claws or super strength, everyone has at least one power they dream of possessing. What we were interested in with this issue was why people might want the powers they dream of, and more importantly, what they would do with them once they had them. What are the ethical implications of enhanced abilities? Ideally, we would use our powers for good, but if there’s anything the stories in this issue have taught us, it’s that circumstances often conspire against you, and that being a hero isn’t always the easiest path. 

      I’d also like to take a moment and apologize for the delay in getting this issue to you. Unfortunately, the team at Inaccurate Realities do not possess any superpowers - circumstances arose that were beyond our control, and they hindered our ability to deliver this edition of Inaccurate Realities on its original release date. We hope you understand, and we promise to do better with Volume 5: Monsters, this October. 

      Happy Reading,

      Christa Seeley

      Managing Editor

      P.S. My choice of superpower is flying. Preferably with wings. 

      The New Age

      Eleanor Pender

      I walk the sunlit streets of the city—No wait, a phrase like that paints a romantic image and I want this to be a faithful narrative. Looking around me, most of the old brick buildings are gone. Everything is metal and glass, cold and practical. At this early hour, the streets are not busy. There are only a few government workers on their way in, same as me. You can tell by the regulation government jacket, dark grey and short to the waist with a flat collar that comes up to the neckline. We walk at our individual paces but no one runs, no one is late. Running draws unnecessary attention and that’s the last thing you want to do.

      Now on the main boulevard, the sunlight streams down the empty road. What with energy shortages, cars are reserved for high government officials, enforcement teams and the psychics. I’m close to the Evaluation building—or Eva as she’s known. It’s one of the few buildings in the city powered to run twenty-four hours a day but such is the energy shortage that the lifts are reserved for the highest ranks. Workers have to use the stairs at all times, for all twenty-five floors.

      Someone kicks a can in the alleyway next to me, disturbing my thoughts and I turn. It’s a woman and a small child. They wear government issued clothing but they’re covered in mud and grime. The woman stares right at me. No, she glares at me, her steel-grey eyes waiting for me to call out, to sound an alarm. I say nothing. She turns back to scavenging in the dustbin and I see the crest on the upper right arm. She has tried to tear it off but I can make out the missing A. A for Absence. She is an unregistered Absence. She must be desperate to have come so far north, and so close to Eva. Desperate and very angry. I can feel the anger pouring off her.

      I move on and leave her to it. There is little point reporting her, she is just one. There are increasing numbers of Absence leaving their allocated posts and going underground, choosing to scavenge rather than live within a system designed and controlled by the psychics. Even rumours of a revolution are spreading. If only she knew how much we have in common. I hate the classifications, the importance of Abilities, the disparaging treatment of Absence. I contribute to the system because I have to, but it has taken everything from me.

      Now in Eva, I climb the stairs to the briefing hall on the tenth floor. It’s half past six, time for the welcome briefing. It’s the same every morning, as if they think we’ll have forgotten since yesterday why this is necessary. You might think that everything around us isn’t a constant reminder. I join the others in line and we stand en masse as the video starts to play.

      Good morning, Evaluation. Once again on this fine day, you embark on a journey together to find the one we are looking for, the one who can save us. As it is foreseen, the Energy will come and return the city to its once powerful state. All of you are important to help find the one who can help us. For the betterment of the New Age and the future of mankind, be vigilant and find the Energy. The New Age relies on us all.

      The New Age relies on us all. The hall fills with the monotone chant. We all know the words. The New Age. It’s a presumptive name to me. It sounds like a new time is dawning but I only see the sun. After six years of finding nothing, I wonder how many people in the room still believe them. We’re still without power, without a lot of things we had before the blast wiped out everything eight years ago. It doesn’t help any that the Prophet, the only one with such an Ability, has not been seen in public for almost as long.

      The lines start moving out of the hall and workers head to their offices and posts. Most of the people here are office workers and administration staff. They process the paperwork that the psychics and I give them. The Prophet is the sole motivation behind the search for the one who can create energy, the one who will have the Ability to bring electricity and technology back to the city. And that is something so many people crave, I can taste it. The eagerness for advancement is plain, to be the one to discover the Energy, as he or she is now called, is a role that so many want to have. I can feel them resent me for having the Ability to find them more than anyone else.

      In the beginning, back before the first psychics appeared, Abilities were discovered through a simple interview and a series of tests. The arrival of the psychics sped up the process by a long way. And then they found me. The Reader. I don’t even know how they found me, but find me they did. I have the Ability to Read people, to tell if they have an Ability or the potential to develop one. Most psychics don’t look too closely at me because I can tell more about them than they know themselves. Their Abilities, their strength and their limits. That said, even I know not to give a psychic a reason to go digging around inside your head.

      I push the thought away

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