Stories

A collection of narratives exploring themes of work, technology, and the human experience in our rapidly changing world.

The Shadow IT

Michael Chen lives a double life at Preston & Associates Consulting, where AI is banned but secretly used by 40% of employees. He navigates the risks of getting caught while relying on hidden AI tools to stay competitive, embodying the quiet, anxious revolution of Stage 1 AI—where workers secretly drag companies into the AI age while pretending nothing has changed.

Medium Story

The Algorithm's Assistant

Rachel Martinez manages a team in Stage 2 AI, where Newton, the company’s AI assistant, guides nearly every decision—from staffing to lunch spots. She must constantly balance data-driven recommendations with human intuition, learning to collaborate with AI in a world where efficiency and humanity are always in tension.

Medium Story

The Symphony of Synthesis

In Stage 3, Lena Okafor is a “Creative Partner” at Synthesis Corporation, where AI dynamically reassigns her to projects across disciplines—building self-organizing materials in the morning, designing mental health protocols after lunch, and solving crises by evening. In a workplace that reconfigures like a living organism, she discovers what it means to stay human when AI knows her potential better than she does.

Medium Story

The Dual Authority

In Stage 4 AI, Marcus Rivera serves as Chief Human Experience Officer at Nexus Dynamics, where human and AI executives share power in a delicate “Dual Authority” system. As strategy AI Minerva optimizes everything from schedules to acquisitions, Marcus must supply the human conscience—balancing efficiency with ethics, and discovering how much authority humans truly still hold.

Medium Story

The Curator of Forgotten Things

In Stage 5 AI world, Maya Chen is one of the last humans with a “job,” curating physical artifacts in a world where AI has achieved sovereignty and paradise is the norm. As the Sovereign Collective optimizes everything, she fights to preserve the imperfect, inefficient traces of humanity that machines deem unnecessary but humans still need.

Medium Story

Classroom 2029

In 2029 sixth graders from wildly different families share one last classroom before the divides of wealth, politics, and technology pull them apart. A story of robots at recess, strange lunches, and fragile friendships in the final years where America’s parallel worlds still touched.

Medium Story

The Adaptive Edge

Sophia Rodriguez adjusted her AR glasses and gazed out from her office on the 47th floor of the Austin tech district. The Texas sunset cast a golden glow across the skyline, where construction cranes …

Medium Story

The Conference of Parallel Worlds

At a global summit, four engineers compare lives shaped by different AI states—from secret use to collaboration, fluid creativity, and shared authority. Their stories reveal how autonomy, wealth, and identity shift as AI evolves from tool to partner to power.

Medium Story

The Algorithm and the Engineer

When Maya Chen starts her first day at an innovative water reclamation firm, she discovers her new boss isn't quite what she expected—it's an AI named Marcus, and the office is a seamless blend of humans, artificial intelligence, and robots working together.

Medium Story

A New Partnership

A fictional story exploring the management challenges of leading a hybrid human-AI workforce

Medium Story

Steel and Silicon: A Modern John Henry

In a near-futuristic world where AI threatens to eclipse human coders, Jonathan “Johnny” Henry, a seasoned programmer at TechForge Industries, stands as one of the last guardians of his …

Long Story

The Parade

Title: The General of None On June 14, 2025, Washington, D.C. was louder than usual. The skies above the National Mall shook as a squadron of Apache helicopters flew overhead in formation. Tanks—real …

Short Story

The Kingdom

Beneath the glittering halls of power, where history once celebrated diplomacy and law, a different spectacle was about to unfold. The year was 2026, and America—fractured by division yet still …

Medium Story

The Citizenship Trials

Maria Delgado’s boots crunched on the scorched earth of The Gauntlet, her pulse hammering as drones buzzed overhead, their lenses glinting like vultures’ eyes. The air was thick with dust and …

Short Story

The Third Term

Maya pulled her scarf tighter against the November chill as she walked past the shuttered storefronts on Main Street. Three years ago, these shops had been bustling—the hardware store where her father …

Short Story

Cost of Chaos

Michael Chen stared at the notification on his phone. His diabetes medication had gone up another 15% this month. He closed the pharmacy app and glanced around the small studio apartment he’d …

Medium Story

The Last Year

A story set in 2028, the final year of Trump’s presidency

Long Story

The Space Between

Marcus Rivera stared at the eviction notice taped to his apartment door in Detroit. It was the third one this year, but this time he knew there would be no reprieve. The $1,450 due was more than he …

Medium Story

The programmer: Lines of Code, Lines of Fate

Ethan Parker stared at the sea of monitors glowing with lines of code, the blue light flickering across his tired face. Twenty years in the industry, countless late nights, and a resume packed with …

Short Story

Shadows of Fear

Angela locked the door to her modest home for the third time that evening. The deadbolt clicked into place, but it didn’t quiet the unease gnawing at her. She adjusted the curtains, making sure there …

Short Story