Black Band Shorts

With his writing career failing and his publisher thinking of pulling the plug, Gene Winfield is left reeling from a failing passion and his beloved aunt's passing. But when he discovers an ominous book among his late aunt's belongings, Gene finally sees his chance. He becomes determined to write about the savage, unearthly creature in its pages—despite the book's stern warnings. And as he breathes life into the creature through his own pages, he soon realizes that he's unleashing much more than his imagination…

The world is dead. Humanity’s existence depends on sophisticated living compounds, isolated from the cold and barren landscape beyond. The people without them, once driven to theft and murder, are believed to have perished long ago. Alden is an engineering genius, spending his days perfecting the complex systems which he and his wife Lauren need to survive. Everything is running exactly as he wants it – until the power begins to fail.

Could a small wooden figure hold the power to kill? The power to save a life? The magic to come alive? In a city full of gangsters, thieves, and abusers, where cops can be as corrupt as criminals, fate brings those in need of help to the makeshift table of an old, blind peddler who carves tiny wood figures of mighty warriors. On the street between a bustling city and a lush park, there is little justice.

In a world where automation runs society, Marion Sato spends her days as a judgment aid, tasked with making the manual choices deemed too difficult or complicated for computer algorithms. It seems like a dream come true – until things go horribly wrong.