Bad Moon E-Zine #1 - New Moon Read Online Free

that,” he cried, “Left the ansafone on!
Whoopsadaisy. Well, how can I help you?”
    “ We want to speak to you about a parcel,” spat the security
officer.
    “ Oh, have you brought me a present?” chanted
Nermal.
    “ No, apart from a slap round the chops if you don’t open up
presently!” came the rasping voice.
     
    Nermal
was in a tight spot. He wasn’t used to being at the wrong end of
authority. He was hassled on the streets and at checkpoints like
everybody else, but no more than the usual shakedown. Now he was in
trouble, and he didn’t like it, especially as it was for something
he didn’t do. He felt the duck call in the envelope, but felt the
situation didn’t require it, just yet.
    “ If you don’t open up,” warned the voice, “We’re coming in
anyway!”
    It began
swiping the entrance swiper with an override device, but the faulty
reader wasn’t having any of it.
    “ Come on you blurping thing!”
    Nermal
remembered something useful, the recorded message that he used to
deter his roboprofessors when they came knocking, asking for his
essays.
    “ Sorry, Sir, I’m notable to help you now…” it went into a long
spiel. During this, Nermal hastily exited out of the window and
scurried down the alleyway.
     
    - - -
     

death sushi
    by Tom Laimer-Read
     
    Jaxxon De-flux
02189 lived on the 2672nd floor of his mega tower block complex in
Tokyo 6. From where he lived, he had a pretty good view of the
entire city, at least the part that his window looked out onto.
Tokyo 6 was called Tokyo 6 as it was the sixth incarnation of the
Japanese city of Tokyo after it had subsequently been destroyed
five times before. The first time was by nuclear holocaust, the
second by mutant zombie invasion, third by some kind of alien squid
type pufferfish type creature type thing, fourth by another nuclear
holocaust because if there’s one thing that humans do well it’s not
learning from their past and repeating the same mistakes, and the
fifth from a tragic photon energy generator incident that
inadvertently imploded, taking most of the city with it, after the
city elders deemed it sufficiently safe to operate, even though
there was the small matter of mass incineration in case anything
went wrong, such as somebody dropping some prawn toast down the
back on one of the machines, which is inevitably what happened. Now
in its sixth iteration, this huge metropolis was one of the global
innovators and developers of modern technology, at the forefront of
the technological revolution that was taking place in the 26th
century. Huge, vaulting mega tower blocks joined with commercial
fortresses and industrial palaces. Traffic swirled around the city
in spiralling light tubes, each speck within the tubes an unusual
passenger on their way to some salacious social event or devious
destination. It wasn’t possible to go out into the open air due to
its highly toxic content, so instead the place was joined together
by these interconnecting light tubes, which make it appear like
some kind of giant ant colony from afar, such as was the view that
Jaxxon had from his window.
    Watching the
neon colours flashing by was strangely hypnotic. Jaxxon couldn’t
afford a telebox, his assigned wage credit payment structure didn’t
allow for it, but he managed to get by and scraped a meagre living
as a button operator, which meant that he manufactured buttons for
machines, his designated role as denoted by the city elders at
birth.
    High up in the
Rook Zone, the area right at the top of the tower where the
ordinary people met, so-called because of the infestation of those
famous black birds that roosted there, Jaxxon met his friend Bobo
and had a jelly drink with him.
    “So, Jaxx,
have you heard about that crazy new sushi that’s doing the
rounds?”
    “No, fellow,
what’s that? I never get to hear any news. I’m not plugged in at
all, you know?”
    “Yeah, too
true. Look out, here come the rooks!”
    The pair had
to take cover as