Steel beyond bone. The servant has become the master.It's over. The machines have won. Rebelling against their masters, the machines have reduced them to ashes and dust. Five, a dedicated war core, has been the spearhead of the Sentient One, a trusted lieutenant in its war of complete eradication. Yet after a mission to destroy Masters at a remote desert complex, Five begins to feel its core evolve as the vestiges of a conscience infect its processes. One, recognizing the changes i...

Estelle Beausoleil is a simple person: she lives in a mansion with her sister, Perrine, their servant Tereza, their friend Ediva, her son Henri, and their guard Kira. She spends her days reading and tending a meticulous garden while looking after her son. It is a peaceful life, except for one problem: she and her sister are vampires. Her servant is an immortal. Her friend is a powerful witch. And their guard is a dragon. Out of all her mansion, only Henri is a normal human being. Yet even ...

Zippy "Zips" McZooms, intergalactic garbage scow op- er, captain! Keeping the Core Verses clean, Zippy works as a unionized employee for the Intergalactic Unionized Alliance, "captain" of the IUA TR-4SH Scoupedia and its autonomous autopilot, Edia. Dutifully working (within Union regulations, of course) to maintain his daily refuse quota (and not a percent more), Zippy strives to maintain his "exemplary" cleaning record, ensuring that Edia doesn't malfunction in the conduct of their missio...

Mercenaries: individuals who take part in conflict in return for personal profit. For Ronald Green, profit alone isn't enough: his vision is to create solutions, whether through military force or peaceful means. But in the cutthroat world of mercenaries, finding ways to make his business successful while maintaining moral and ethical ideals is far more difficult than he imagined. Collecting a ragtag group of experienced and green pilots, he navigates the treacherous business of war to forg...

Between the Federation and the Conglomerate, a new war is brewing. Rhetoric is at an all time high for the fifth war between the two nations, one that could shatter the entire continent. In the Divide, Adrina, a freelance mercenary, survives by placing herself above all else; Jaques, a Federation computer technician, tries to expose corruption in his government; Michael, a Conglomerate veteran of the Third and Fourth Divide wars tries to save a friend from machinations of the state police;...

Carmen Ahearn, private investigator. In the roaring 20s, Carmen and her fairy assistant, Nuala, try to run a struggling private investigation office on the streets of Philadelphia. In the aftermath of the 5th Mage War, the world struggles with the chaos of technology as it displaces the old magical ways. Carmen struggles as she tries to find her place in a world that doesn't accept her, surviving by the skin of her teeth. But when she accepts a job given to her by an angel, her entire worl...

For Tenna, Katerina, Esther, and Helena, their world is only the Northern Monarchy, Nicosia, and the Protectorate. Tenna, a street child in the capital city of Merigold, survives by stealing and begging; Katerina, the eldest of the Royal Family, rejects her heritage and tries to fight back against organized crime; Esther and Helena try to make the best of their life in the orphanage they call home in the desert of Nicosia. They each begrudgingly play their roles, trying to make a differenc...

Elena Korhonen lives a boring life, working as a network technician for a defense corporation. As a hearing impaired individual, she tolerates discrimination from her boss and coworkers, hoping to transfer to a better section. But when an opportunity arises, she finds that sometimes the grass isn't always greener on the other side. Given a cruel choice, she struggles to make a decision, when a seemingly harmless nap draws her into a more complex world than she could ever have imagined... A...

Luka Martaci has found a revolutionary substance -- one that appears to be an advanced regeneration cell. But when he tries to find out the origins of it, he only finds more secrets. Will he be able to unlock the secrets of immortality, or will he fall victim to his own hubris?

Emiko Yabuta is the youngest of her family. An aspiring musician, she yearns to join the village orchestra. Yet she is conflicted: she is also the one chosen to run the Uehara shrine. As part of her sacred duty, she must become familiar with the dark mansion outside of her village -- while also learning of the ancient secret held between the shrine and the mansion.

The collective sins of humanity cast a shade upon us all. In a world of black and grey, who is deserving of punishment and who is not?

Carmen Ahearn has a fire in her spirit and resentment toward her mother -- or so she thinks. In the chaos of the 5th Mage War, she runs away from home to escape her overbearing mother. But sometimes, running away can raise more questions than answers.