13 Comments
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Michael S. Atkinson's avatar

If I were that guy I'd radio for backup and bomb the heck out of that planet. Hit it with magnets and then BOMB IT. Messing with nanobots is *NOT COOL*.

I listened to the audiobook of Michael Crichton's "Prey" once and it was horrific. Same vibe here. But worse. Ye gods.

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Scoot's avatar

No one can compete with Crichton for the spook factor of tech going wrong!

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Stephanie Loomis's avatar

Whoa

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The Crazy Cat Lady Writes's avatar

I always love twisty "oh shit we're fucked" endings to stories. 😁

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Bridget Riley's avatar

Oh no!!!

You really did a fantastic job of slowly ratcheting up the tension. And I think that having the narrator be the only character not physically present on the planet’s surface was a fascinating choice, as the reader can feel how powerless he is to help.

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Lausanne Davis Carpenter's avatar

Great suspense!

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The Chronicler's avatar

This reminded me slightly of that very scary Dr Who episode, the one on the diamond planet!

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Scoot's avatar

I don't know it but i'm gonna look it up!

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The Chronicler's avatar

It’s the scariest episode ever! I think it was called “Midnight”

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Skeptic Fail's avatar

Why did I imagine Dr. Neuman as a cat?

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Scoot's avatar

Because we called our cat “newman” when we were kids 😂

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Patricia J.L. 👻🧶🖊️'s avatar

That didn't quite go well, now did it?

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Scoot's avatar

Academic circles, generally speaking, consider this to have been a "bad day" for all involved.

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