Strange Beginnings

By Treesong

Strange Beginnings is a collection of short stories by Treesong. These five tales take place in the same contemporary science fiction and fantasy setting as the author’s first novel, Change. Although they all share a broad setting, each is an independent tale with a very different focus. There are several people who discover extraordinary new abilities; an android searching for her place in the world; playful fairies leading a young man into the woods; a secretive organization conducting an unusual test; and more. Each story relates in its own way to the theme of strange beginnings—and often strange endings.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Treesong
• Release date: Jun 28, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311415981

Treesong

Treesong is an author, community organizer, talk radio host, and Real Life Superhero living in Southern Illinois. He grew up in the Chicago area and moved to Carbondale, Illinois to study philosophy at Southern Illinois University. Through his academic studies and activism, he became involved in the environmental movement, eventually changing his name to Treesong to reflect his newfound Earth-centered spirituality.

Book preview

Strange Beginnings

Tales of Order and Change

By Treesong

Copyright 2015 by Treesong

Published by Cranncheol Publishing

Smashwords Edition.

The cover art for Strange Beginnings uses a modified form of the photo Sunrise On All Saints Day by Ken M. This photo is licensed under a Creative Commons Public License (Attribution 2.0).

About This Collection

The tales presented in this book were originally written as independent short stories. They don't happen in the same place or time, although they do all happen on Earth in the fairly near future. The plots and characters aren't connected in any obvious way, although subtler connections have emerged and are continuing to emerge. On the surface, they seem like six unrelated adventures in speculative fiction.

As I collected these tales, however, I realized that they all have two things in common.

The first is a shared setting. These stories all take place in the same broadly-defined world: the world of my novel, Change, the first of three novels in the Eutopia Trilogy. On the surface, this world may seem familiar, ordinary, safe. But the closer you look, the more you see. Behind closed doors, and deep in the woods, and under the cover of night, you will find something MORE. You will encounter something beyond the life that you once knew. You may not live to tell the tale. If you do, few will believe you. Either way, you will never be the same.

The second common thread is what inspired the title of this collection. Each of these tales is, in its own way, the tale of a strange beginning. A scientist starts a new experiment; an office worker receives a mysterious invitation; a man on the run seeks help from a stranger; a discouraged activist searches for new direction; a man with a special ability weighs his options.

I hope you enjoy these collected tales of strange beginnings. If you'd like to read full-length fiction that takes place in the same setting, I invite you to read my novel, Change, and the upcoming sequel, Order. I also encourage you to share your comments, reflections, responses, and ideas with me through my website and social networking profiles. I enjoy hearing from readers and look forward to incorporating your feedback into my future storytelling.

Table of Contents

About This Collection

Alpha

Come Away

Anomalous

Imbalance

The Test

About The Author

Books By The Author

Author Newsletter And Social Media

Sample Chapter: Change

Sample Chapter: Goodbye Miami

Alpha

"Day One. The time is 19:54. Alpha has rolled onto its right side to face the monitor. This occurred approximately two minutes after I turned on the monitor, leading me to conclude that Alpha has begun responding to external stimulus. However, changing the random shapes and colors displayed on the monitor hasn't elicited any further response."

Dr. Sophie Alma set down her digital recorder and continued looking into the room on the other side of the two-way mirror.

The room was twenty feet wide by forty feet long, with the viewing window on one of the shorter sides. The walls and ceiling were painted sky blue, while the floor was covered in a grass-green shag carpet. Red, yellow, and blue blocks of various shapes and sizes were scattered and stacked throughout the room. The far wall contained a white wooden door, and one of the long walls contained a large flat-screen monitor. A prone figure was lying on its right side next to an overturned folding chair in the center of the room. The body was motionless, but judging by its position, it appeared to be looking up at the monitor.

No change?

Sophie turned to see Dr. Sam Matthis stepping into the viewing room.

Sam was a tall, thin, middle-aged man with short gray and black hair. He wore blue jeans, a blue button-up shirt, and a white lab coat. As soon as Sam closed the door behind him, Sophie returned her attention to the room beyond the glass.

No, nothing. It's been staring blankly at that damned monitor for over a half hour. I think we've just invented the world's first forty-seven million dollar couch potato.

Sam chuckled, patting Sophie on the back lightly as he stepped up to the viewing window.

I wouldn't worry. We've still got brain activity, right?

Sophie glanced over at the computer screen on the desk next to the viewing window. Most of the screen was filled with a line graph with irregular peaks and valleys that steadily scrolled across the screen from right to left.

Yes, it's still processing something. But I doubt it's going to learn anything by just lying there.

At first glance, the prone figuring lying in the center of the room appeared to be a young woman. She had short black hair, lightly tanned skin, and was dressed in a simple white cotton shirt and black slacks. Closer examination revealed that something was slightly off about her facial expression and the awkward position of her limbs as she lay in a heap on the floor. Her skin was made of a lifelike synthetic material, and her unblinking eyes had a shine that almost made them look moist like real human eyes, but not quite.

Sam looked out at Alpha. Have you tried varying the audio-visual stimulus?

Sophie nodded. I've tried adjusting the lighting, changing the display, switching back and forth between music and random noise. No response.

Hmm. Well, we could always—

Sophie raised a hand to interrupt him. She tilted her head to the side slightly, listening intently to the murmur of white noise coming from the speaker next to the viewing window. After a few moments, she pressed a few keys on the computer, and the white noise grew quieter.

Sophie grinned.

There we go."

Sam looked into the room.

Am I missing something?

Alpha was still lying motionless on the floor, staring blankly up at the monitor.

Sam, I just turned off the monitor's audio. What you're hearing through the speakers is Alpha imitating the monitor.

Sophie picked up her digital recorder.

"Day One. The time is 19:59. Alpha is emitting a quiet sound similar to the ocean waves audio track that we were playing on the monitor. We will now proceed with a series of tests to determine Alpha's response to various audio and video input."

Sophie switched off the digital recorder and turned to Sam. This is a good sign. Maybe it's analyzing the visual input too but doesn't know how to respond yet.

Or maybe I'm just good luck? If I leave and come back again, maybe she'll start dancing.

Sophie smiled and shook her head. You know I don't believe in luck, Sam. Only good engineering.

Yes. Well, you've been up since yesterday, so why don't you call in one of the grad students to babysit your 'good engineering' for a while?

Sophie grinned. Just a few more tests. I promise.

"Alright. I'm too old for another all-nighter