stories://

DEEP (#20) **Series Finale** in computronium

May 20, 2021 :: DEEP (#20) **Series Finale** cover image Bouncing over what passed for a desert road in the middle of Nevada, I found it easy to know what to do, and to predict the ways in which I could be discovered. The satellites covering the ground,... →

ANCIENT (#19) in computronium

April 29, 2021 :: ANCIENT (#19) cover image I could not help thinking about Anna as the Humvee I rode in bumped over rocks and gravel. I couldn't help it because I was laying on top of her dead body, hiding, stowing away. I couldn't wait to... →

COLD WAR (#18) in computronium

April 15, 2021 :: COLD WAR (#18) cover image I am strapped to Anna's back, plummeting at 120 miles per hour. Straight down. Down. Down. We were dropped low and fast, it's our only chance. Fast, undetected. Then Anna pulls the cord and ...... →

SUPERPOWER (#17) in computronium

April 1, 2021 :: SUPERPOWER (#17) cover image As the first brick flies out of my hand, toward the old warehouse wall, I think, "Have I ever been this mad before?" And I think, is this a side effect of Computronium, too? Then, another brick, an... →

POTENTIAL (#16) in computronium

March 18, 2021 :: POTENTIAL (#16) cover image I sleep three quarters of every day. I'm actually not really sleeping. But, I'm not aware and to avoid the real subject, SeventyNine and TwoZeroEight call it "sleeping." Not, "Being Overcome." Which... →

TWO GRAVES (#15) in computronium

March 4, 2021 :: TWO GRAVES (#15) cover image I push the hotel lobby door, and I walk out into a cold evening. I do not know if I am chasing, or if I am running. Out into the dim, gray evening. It's snowing lightly. Flurries. Just the sky... →

ROYAL CASINO (#13.1) in computronium

February 18, 2021 :: ROYAL CASINO (#13.1) cover image It is morning, and I wake up. I smell coffee. And, I smell the six, or eight, maybe nine cocktails Joanna drank last night on an empty stomach. That's how strong she smells. All while she was... →

ROYAL CASINO (#13.1) in computronium

February 11, 2021 :: ROYAL CASINO (#13.1) cover image I'm walking across a wide open Casino, feeling like this is a Very Bad Idea(™). And, there is a man right there -- right there! -- looking at me like he recognizes me. I hold myself steady. Tell... →

Hackers - Have You Ever Been Robbed? in hacked

February 5, 2021 :: Hackers - Have You Ever Been Robbed? cover image We'll get back to the Computronium series next week. This past week I was in quarantine and wasn't able to write and produce as much as I would like. So, I pulled the second "Hacked Feed" story from... →

EXFILTRATION #12 in computronium

January 28, 2021 :: EXFILTRATION #12 cover image I sat at a kitchen table in a beach house, drinking my third hot cup of coffee. I was talking to two men and two women who had traced us to this place I'd never even heard of twelve hours ago. Well,... →

BEACH HOUSE (#11) in computronium

January 21, 2021 :: BEACH HOUSE (#11) cover image They headed to Robbie's parent's beach house to get away, regroup and figure things out. But, they arrived second. If no one knew where they were going, how did they get there first? I am in a beach... →

BELOW THE SECRECY (#10) in computronium

January 14, 2021 :: BELOW THE SECRECY (#10) cover image In the middle of a struggle, Rufus does something even the Computronium can't help Sean predict. Then, a thrown plant, a chaotic lobby, a car chase and a big, black-eye. Sean and his friends are on... →

UNDER SECRETARY (#9) in computronium

January 11, 2021 :: UNDER SECRETARY (#9) cover image The Arcanas, Stac[iy] and some guys in Windbreakers visit Sean and Jan at work. And, there are fisticuffs, backhanded insults, weird phone calls to guys with weird job titles and a turning point.... →

WILL JAN JOIN? (#8) in computronium

January 7, 2021 :: WILL JAN JOIN? (#8) cover image Sean find Jan and seeks her help. Will she join him, or (continue to) think he's btsht cr*zy? Moreover, will Sean be able to escape the clutches of Rufus and the Mystery Woman, and their desire to... →

THE ARCANANS (#7) in computronium

December 31, 2020 :: THE ARCANANS (#7) cover image Sean is startled by who two white-haired, humorless assassins he presumes is the (are the?) Arcanans. They want what Sean has, what Sean was given. His only hope is getting his hands on the... →

GOOD TIMES (#6) in computronium

December 24, 2020 :: GOOD TIMES (#6) cover image Sean has possession of the Computronium, and seeks to discover why it's such a big deal. Since he googled it, he knows what it's supposed to do. But, does it work that way? And, if so, how do you get... →

BLOOD, BATH (#5) in computronium

December 17, 2020 :: BLOOD, BATH (#5) cover image The Three Train Thugs find an end to their disagreement, Sean meets two new nemesis and have a cinematic disagreement with his friends, down by the river. Sean also purchases a Halloween costume and... →

Have You Ever Been Hacked? in hacked

December 10, 2020 :: Have You Ever Been Hacked? cover image We'll get back to the Computronium series next week. This week, I am pulling an Interruption from from the archives, a recording that appeared on my podcast feed in 2017. These "I hacked this feed"... →

NEAR THE COURTYARD (#4) in computronium

December 3, 2020 :: NEAR THE COURTYARD (#4) cover image Going against his inner voice's advice, Sean tries to take the train. He's jumped, thumped and forced to do things. Along the way, he learn more about the mysterious rock he was given by a stranger.... →

AT THE PARTY (#3) in computronium

November 23, 2020 :: AT THE PARTY (#3) cover image I was at a party. At Penelope's. I had to pee, badly, but I did not know, could not know, how just needing to pee would cause me almost as many problems as that damn rock would. The party was... →

AT THE OFFICE (#2) in computronium

November 13, 2020 :: AT THE OFFICE (#2) cover image Now at the office, surrounded by snoopy co-workers, Sean wants to examine the "gift" given to him by Train Platform Man, and that caused TPM to be tackled, beaten and searched. Sean didn't see this... →

ON THE TRAIN PLATFORM (#1) in computronium

November 12, 2020 :: ON THE TRAIN PLATFORM (#1) cover image Sean is just standing there, jamming to music in his earbuds, and Train Platform Man singles him out and slips him a small package, then TPM tries to flee but is violently ambushed by Staring Man,... →

THE SWITCH & THE KILL (Finale) in kill-switch

November 5, 2020 :: THE SWITCH & THE KILL (Finale) cover image I was back in Alabama. I hadn't eaten, had a drink, or gone to the bathroom since Montana, two days ago. Every time I complained, Barry zapped me with a stun gun, and he enjoyed it. I stopped... →

E11EVEN | #10 in kill-switch

October 29, 2020 :: E11EVEN | #10 cover image Jenny and I walked into Billings International Airport. It was a nice looking airport, but tiny. Barely an entire terminal. In my wallet, I had one last fake ID, and the single most important SD... →

ONE MILLION | #9 in kill-switch

October 22, 2020 :: ONE MILLION | #9 cover image Jenny and I were in an eighteen wheeler with Trucker Dan. Dan was not a fan. Oh, he liked Jenny alright, with her tight jeans and half-buttoned shirt. Her charm -- you know, "oh shucks aren't you... →

SUSPICION | #8 in kill-switch

October 15, 2020 :: SUSPICION | #8 cover image Things were grim. I had lied to Jenny, then I had sex with her, then I thought she'd abandoned me, then we had sex again. BossMan95 kept calling and I kept sending it to voicemail. My sister's... →

SXX SCXNX | #7 in kill-switch

October 8, 2020 :: SXX SCXNX | #7 cover image We were in Dallas. Jenny and me. I was on the run. Jenny was having fun, fangirling this whole cyber weapon story. The thing was, something about her was bugging me. I put it on the backburner,... →

Up Shit Cr*ck | #6 in kill-switch

October 1, 2020 :: Up Shit Cr*ck | #6 cover image I was up shit crick. I didn't have a paddle. I didn't even have a boat. And, it wasn't so much a crick as a raging, churning, river of sewage. I was on a Greyhound Bus in the middle of nowhere. It... →

Río del Infierno | #5 in kill-switch

September 24, 2020 :: Río del Infierno | #5 cover image I'm on a Greyhound bus, where there always seems to be at least one someone trying to overcome some sort of demon. Who was the One Someone on this bus? Me? No, it was that woman. This time, the One... →

Her Computer | #4 in kill-switch

September 17, 2020 :: Her Computer | #4 cover image So... where were we? Oh yeah. My sister was on her death bed, and I was trying to secure the cure save her. I had stoled the data I was told was gold, data that if we controlled, we could mold into a... →

Brr Eat Ohh | #3 in kill-switch

September 10, 2020 :: Brr Eat Ohh | #3 cover image I was still in Atlanta. Where, at first, my grand plan was a grand slam but God damn, now I was in a massive jam. I'd stolen an SD card full of intellectual property. IP that could save my sister.... →

Jumper | #2 in kill-switch

September 3, 2020 :: Jumper | #2 cover image I was hobbled, scraped and bruised. Phase two of the plan had some, uh, bumps. Literally. I'd gotten the SD card I needed, I'd gotten out of Gateway's Supermax-level security, I'd busted a roadblock,... →

Block Buster | #1 in kill-switch

September 2, 2020 :: Block Buster | #1 cover image Phase One had been nothing less than an utter... success. It didn't go perfectly to plan, but perfect plans are only ever perfect, only ever worth-it, if they workout. I was within the margin of... →

Let's Tango | #0 in kill-switch

September 1, 2020 :: Let's Tango | #0 cover image In the midst of the biggest pandemic of my lifetime, and because of it, I was poised to do something I'd never thought I'd do. I had practiced it two dozen times, timed out down to the second. Still,... →

Skyscraper (xor 3.8) in exclusivor

April 30, 2020 :: Skyscraper (xor 3.8) cover image Exclusivor, Distinctive and mASSHtrOLE make an assault on the Sky Towers skyscraper in Kiev. The expectation: round up Sindictive's team of hackers, grill them for information on Sindictive. Reality?... →

Shortages (xor 3.7) in exclusivor

April 23, 2020 :: Shortages (xor 3.7) cover image It's Chaos in Kiev, where the team is. And where Sindictive is. Exclusivor, Distinctive, mASSHtrOLE and Fishburne are fighting the biggest DDOS in history, and are always a step behind. In the end,... →

Propaganda Attack (xor 3.6) in exclusivor

April 7, 2020 :: Propaganda Attack (xor 3.6) cover image I am six years old. I wake up. It's Christmas morning! I jump out of bed, go to open my bedroom door, but it's locked. I can't get out. What the hell? Then I hear a buzzer. A voice over a loudspeaker... →

Closed for Business (xor 3.5) in exclusivor

March 12, 2020 :: Closed for Business (xor 3.5) cover image You've heard about this, right? I've heard people here in Wuhan compare life to playing a video game; every day is a mission. Your mission, if you choose to accept it: Get food. Check on loved ones.... →

The Voice (xor 3.4) in exclusivor

February 27, 2020 :: The Voice (xor 3.4) cover image Distinctive takes a series of planes trying to go deeper into hiding. He tells the story of how Exclusivor blackmailed him, and how he flushed his own phone down the toilet. Lita shares a listener DM... →

Exit Nodes (xor 3.3) in exclusivor

February 14, 2020 :: Exit Nodes (xor 3.3) cover image Lita reveals bad news to Distinctive, who had a dream (premotion?) about that same bad news. Hello. L: Hey, sorry, just as I call the delivery guys arrive. No problem. You need to call back? L:... →

Elect Shun (xor 3.2) in exclusivor

February 7, 2020 :: Elect Shun (xor 3.2) cover image Hey, where've you been? L: Sorry I haven't called lately. Been sick. Do you have a sec? Uh, yeah. L: I'm ready to talk about -- Oh, come on! Alright, I'll call you back. — L: (upset) Why did... →

Bullseye, First Try (xor 3.1) in exclusivor

January 29, 2020 :: Bullseye, First Try (xor 3.1) cover image L: Did you see the Washington Post this morning? Yeah, I did. L: Is it true? I don't know what to believe. Did you see the New York Times headline? Go there. L: Oh. Okay, wow. So, like, the... →

INSANITY | eXclusivOR 7 in exclusivor

February 19, 2019 :: I wanted to do a voice-duet here... I wanted to have the music underneath clearly describe who was speaking. Then I wouldn't have to say "then Exclusivor said", "I said"... etc. But, that didn't... →

BUGOUT | eXclusivOR 2.6 in exclusivor

January 12, 2019 :: I think the music in this one is badass, but it lacks other sound design and I regret that. I kind of like the self-deprecating stuff here, and the middle-finger/birdman section. I needed to include... →

LAIR | eXclusivOR 2.5 in exclusivor

January 5, 2019 :: I played around with this alternative keyboard app on my phone called SoundPrism Pro and it's just really cool and easy to do piano or pad sounds. I connected the SPP to Cubasis. I think most of the... →

NIGHTMARE | eXclusivOR 2.4 in exclusivor

December 29, 2018 :: I wanted a vocal hook but I'm not a singer and I tried and tried and ended up coming up with a "chaos" hook. Not just music, not singing, but just a lot of energy in a chaotic way, as the hook. I... →

TICK TOCK | eXclusivOR 2.3 in exclusivor

December 22, 2018 :: This is my favorite recording from this season. I just love the musical hook here, and the energy, and the snark. I'd like every third piece I produce to have this vibe, though I wouldn't want them... →

LAWYER | eXclusivOR 2.2 in exclusivor

December 15, 2018 :: I liked setting up Exclusivor as a badass here. This one turned out okay, but I positively cringe when I hear the beginning. It's just so dorky. It was... a party!! It was like a party broke out.... →

PAIN | eXclusivOR 2.1 in exclusivor

December 8, 2018 :: When I saw the "Hurt" Johnny Cash/Logan movie trailer I really liked it, and when I was writing this, it was just after the first recording when I was beaten by Fishburne. So, I decided I wanted... →

BUSTED | eXclusivOR 2.0 in exclusivor

December 1, 2018 :: This is the first recording from eXclusivOR season two. I've used the eXclusivOR story so many times as a testing ground for the audio storytelling I've experimented with that it's difficult to keep... →