Everything is going to plan up until the precise moment it starts to fall apart.
In 1992, HAL is born on a college campus in Illinois.
An alternate universe in which Alina meets the stag, comes into her powers, and destroys the Fold--all before ever meeting Aleksander.
More superheroes prequel. Pete and Patrick meet and it's a little bit of a disaster, if one with a future. About 3,800 words.
"It's Karen," she says hopelessly in the middle of his doorway like he wouldn't know her a thousand other ways. The whiff of perfume on her, Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb trapped underneath a thick smear of booze, or the sound of her shoes on the hard tile floor. She's drunk already; her breathing is faint and thready. Her face is too hot.
"Don't slouch, Maxine, it makes you look common," says Barbara.
Newt's taken up an alternate payment plan.
"Your husband is a schmuck to eat out when he's got a dish like you at home."
The captain takes Mr. Hickey for his darling, with dire consequences.
On Giedi Prime, a captured Paul considers his enemies and his allies.