My last story was pretty long, so I wanted to do something shorter for this week. I had to look this up (and I only checked one source, I’m sure other definitions disagree) but apparently “flash fiction” refers to fiction under 1500 words, and “sudden fiction” refers to fiction under 750 words. There’s also “microfiction”, under 100 words, “twitterature”, under 280 characters, and “6-word-stories”, a form explicated most famously (and probably apocryphally) by Ernest Hemingway. (Warning: His story is a bummer, as you’d expect.)
Anyway, according to that rubric, what follows is a piece of Sudden Fiction set in the not-too-distant future. Enjoy!
Seeking Obligator
(Note from hosting service: They who paid for this ad gave our verification service full stack access, and we can verify that these words were written by a human group-mind residing in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. However, host cannot guarantee that group-mind members identities are authentic. Please verify independently when answering ad.)
AD:
Hello possible new consciousness shard!
We are a stable three-mind collective looking to add a fourth shard to our bunch. We have been fully integrated for the last seven years (just celebrated our bunch-i-versary, woot woot!) We have two femme-leaning shards and one true Ambi, so we’re looking for a masc-leaning shard to bring balance, although we would consider another Ambi if the right person came along.
We all reside physically in the Bay Area, and while we would consider a shard residing in another location, we ask that you be in the PST time zone for logistical reasons. We briefly had a shard in Hawaii but they were constantly lonely, so we’re not eager to try that again.
We have been a three-bunch since we all met at Santa Clara, and have gone through a series of fourths, but it has become painful to invest in people and then lose them, so we are asking only for responses from people who are interested in a long-term commitment. It doesn’t have to be immediate (in fact we are not available for shard-tourism, integrating will take time, please respect boundaries), but the possibility of things getting serious has to exist.
Our Ambi is a Conciliator, 31, works in alignment, and loves rock climbing. One of our Femmes is an Automator, 28, owns a smoothie cafe and yoga studio. Our other Femme is a Calculator, 33, a freelance prompt engineer working mostly in the art-generation space.
Ideally you would be an Obligator (again, it’s all about balance), though we would be willing to consider a Granulator or a Literator if they’re not too far out there. We’re not ageist but someone 25-40 would likely have the most in common with our bunch.
We are all avid gamers, and you should be too. We enter three-bunch game revolves at least twice a month, and we’re looking for someone we don’t have to drag into them.
We have a strict no-sex-inside-the-bunch policy, so if you’re looking for an orgy-bunch, look elsewhere. It’s really not that hard to find, and if you’re the sort of person who “likes a challenge”, you’re gross and should seek help.
Also, we’re looking for someone who has been implanted for at least five years, and has been part of multiple bunches before. We have nothing against first-time-shards in principle, but we all have busy lives and we’re not looking to show anyone the ropes. There are plenty of starter-bunches out there that aren’t meant to last that are awesome for getting your brain stem wet!
We know this is a lot of requirements, but we promise we are fun! We have a great crew of bunches we hang out with and game with, and it’s such a beautiful life. We hope to find a special shard to share (literally everything) with. Hope to hear from you, and thanks for your time!
END
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Intriguing , strange and out there.! love the world I just got a peak at!
This is a very interesting concept. I wonder how common something like this would actually be if it were possible in the real world.