Val’s search gets interrupted by some local color.

Read Chapter 55: Val Fails to Support Local Business

Subscribe now

This Week…

Four rows in, Val had seen nothing but freight and crews working their loaders.

Not useless, but close.

For someone being chased, the cargo staging area was more attractive than the long corridor past the nearby foundry. Rows of freight broke the space into blind corners and short lanes. A person could turn twice and vanish, assuming they had the sense not to keep running in a straight line.

In the next row, Val saw a loader angled across the far end of the lane. Past it was a small crowd. As he got closer, he could make out half a pallet still on the loader. The rest seemed to be on the deck, if the cleaning crew was any indication. He tamped down the tendril of hope growing in his chest.

Read more

Wren turns a sleeper block’s rudest wake-up call in years into the perfect disappearing act.

Read Chapter 54: Wren Goes with the Flow

Subscribe now

This Week…

Argus ran disciplined comms, and that was the problem with discipline: it made things obvious and predictable. Twenty-three minutes in the cafe had revealed a small bubble of nothing in the comms traffic, moving from the edge of Sector 9 towards 10, the path unusual but the shape too consistent to be a coincidence.

It also told him they were following, not searching.

Val shifted his weight to account for the lurch as the train slowed. This wouldn’t have been his transport of choice: too bumpy, too many bodies. He fashioned his face into an appropriate glower until the closest riders gave him a few extra inches.

Unfortunate that this was the most expedient way to close in on Argus without drawing attention.

Read more

Val goes looking for an unattended terminal and leaves a tech with a whole new appreciation for workplace interruptions.

Read Chapter 53: Val Makes a Connection

Subscribe now

Meanwhile, Back with Wren…

A refresher, since it’s been a minute: when we last saw her (Chapter 49), her off-the-books visit to the medical district got her spotted by Argus, and she’s been running ever since. Chapter 54 picks up mid-sprint.

Read Chapter 49: Wren Gets the Jitters

This Week…

Her lungs burned, but stopping meant Argus could find her again.

Would find her again.

Wren hit the Sector 10 entrance too fast, boots skidding on the turn. Her right hand clipped the wall, and pain flashed bright enough to blank the corridor for half a second.

Voids be damned this station.

It felt like a maze she’d never get out of. The corridor split ahead, one way toward lit signs and shops, another narrowing into service access. People meant help, but it also meant the grunt of Val taking a bullet. Outpost residents screaming. The fucking bar exploding. No one else should be getting hurt because of her.

Read more

Previously on The Signal…

Val gives up an uncomfortable truth to avoid giving away his search for Wren.

Read Chapter 52: Val Asks for Directions

Subscribe now

This Week…

He’d never spent a lot of time in the tech sectors. Generally, if it wasn’t related to ships or aviation, he wasn’t interested. But he still knew his way around enough to find a minor comms relay station. Less staff, less security, but still enough access for what he needed.

If this didn’t work—

He cut that line of thought. It would work. Siccing the gangs on Argus had too many unknowns for his liking. He’d skim the comm data to see what kind of traces they’d left on the network.

He only needed one unattended terminal.

Read more

No chapter feelings, just vibes. I’m sending you a little Signal care package instead. I went ham with a single concept about Val and made . . . well, I don’t actually know how many songs I made, but I kept 76 of them to listen to. Here are two of my favorites. They might both make it to Soundcloud.

If you want to be dramatic about it, consider this a transmission from the void. If you don’t, it’s just me sharing cool stuff I made while Val refused to cooperate.

Already Dead

This one is best appreciated in a car with good speakers.

Read more

Previously on The Signal…

Drinks. Small talk. Faizah throws shade at The Loma.

Read Chapter 51: Val Breaks a Sweat

Subscribe now

This Week…

Good lies always ran on the same principles: semantics that left the truth technical, and details mundane enough that it wouldn’t occur to most people to even question them. When you were dealing with someone who could smell stellar waste ten clicks away, you had to let them think that what you were saying was costing you something, that you wouldn’t have admitted it if it wasn’t true.

“A client has a sensitive pickup, the kind that can’t get interrupted. I don’t like what I’ve been hearing around the station.” Val wrapped his fingers around each side of the drink. “I’m already a day behind on this job, I can’t afford any more delays.”

Read more

Val arrives on Phylum armed and heading for a conversation he'd rather not have.

Read Chapter 50: Val Goes for a Ride

Subscribe now

This Week…

Despite being in a different location than before, the garden felt familiar. Real greens in raised beds, the air humid and filled with the smell of damp earth. A disgusting display of wealth on a space station, or a steadfast dedication to historical culture, depending on who you asked. Val just found it stifling, and he had to resist the urge to tug on his collar.

Faizah looked up as he approached, her smile warm and open. Gray hair, slicked back into a high bun. A face that could’ve been fifty or seventy.

That exact smile was aimed at enemies who didn’t have long to live. He’d spent years trying to decide what it meant when it was directed at him. He still couldn’t figure it out.

Read more

Wren tries to make it to the hospital without getting snatched. She only partly succeeds.

Read Chapter 49: Wren Gets the Jitters

Subscribe now

This Week…

The comm band around his wrist vibrated in three short pulses. His ride was thirty seconds out.

He shifted, testing his leg. Still sore, but bearable after a minor resupply for pain blockers and fuel. He had a handful of injectors stashed in his sling bag along with some stims. He’d left the Loma in a pre-flight check in case they needed another quick exit. No such thing as being too prepared.

Read more

I have an announcement that will not shock you: I completely tossed out the chapter 50 that was planned. Seven tortuous iterations and nothing but frustration and logic problems, so I had to admit defeat. On the plus side, I came up with some cool new ideas . . . they are just not completed.

This Week…

Here is Val, on Phylum, heading toward a conversation he’d rather not have.

Read more

So I’ve been rethinking what The Signal sounds like.

Because it’s sci-fi, I felt like everything had to sound futuristic. The Signal leans more toward cyberpunk than post-apocalyptic. Electronic. No analog instruments. You know, spaceships. And I think that mostly worked?

Then I started fucking around with some of the existing tracks. Restyling them into this swampy, bluesy, clap-y thing. And . . . I really liked them. The vibe just felt like the Wren and Val dynamic in a way the straight electronic stuff never did. Problem is, they also sounded like they belonged in 2000s juke joint, not hundreds of years from now. Too much guitar. Harmonicas that had no business being in space.

So now I’m trying to blend the sounds and it is more difficult than I anticipated. The results go full blues or full electronic and absolutely refuse to meet me in the middle. I didn’t realize “a little bit of both” was such a controversial ask.

I did manage to get two samples that are closer to what I’m going for. Thirty seconds each. Have a listen:

Red Flag (Sample)

Contraband Hearts (Sample)

And then I started questioning the whole soundtrack. Maybe swampy is just Wren and Val. Maybe NOX gets something more traditionally electronic. Maybe the environmental tracks stay ambient. Or maybe splitting it up is a cop-out and I need to just commit. I don’t know. I feel weird about it not being consistent but I also feel weird forcing every track into the same box. I’m about *~~*the vibes*~~*.

It’s not like there isn’t precedent for this. Firefly is sci-fi and the entire soundtrack is a western. John Woo makes martial arts films and sets the fight scenes to classical music. Sometimes the “wrong” sound is exactly the right one.

Do you have a favorite soundtrack that has absolutely no business being in the genre it’s in?

Wish me luck with this blending mashup, and I’ll be back next week with the next chapter of The Signal!

Stay caffeinated and keep craving,

Emory

P.S. Want to see the Wren/Val vibes for yourself? Upgrade to a paid subscription! We’re at 49 chapters and counting (but close to the end).

Subscribe now

Signal Sounds…

The sonic atmosphere of dubious life choices, undeniable tension, and maybe a hint of spacetime weirdness.

1. What I’m For 4:00

2. Friction Point 3:14

3. Borrowed Dark 3:37

4. Dangerous Agreement 2:27

5. Void Walker 2:21

6. Network Lost 1:43

7. Just Survive 1:10

8. Foreign Body 1:25

9. Name TBD (still…) 4:00

10. The Outpost 4:00

11. Through the Void 1:42

12. Thin Between Us 4:00

13. I bite my tongue till it tastes like steel 3:15

14. Through the Tunnels 4:00

15. Calculations 4:00

Share Coffee, Commas, Curses, & Cravings

Wren finds out that her little “nap” wasn’t so little after all.

Read Chapter 48: Wren Loses her Grip

Subscribe now

This Week…

You are Faith of the Risen.

Wren kept her stride fast despite the stiffness in her back and legs. She held her right arm close, hand elevated, and used her left to pull the hood down over her face when anyone got too close. The bag against her hip was conspicuously light.

Your partner died suddenly. They didn’t give you time to say goodbye.

Read more

Read more

So no chapter today, but I thought you might like to see some deleted scenes. There wasn’t anything inherently wrong with these, BUUUUUUUUT the logic around them didn’t work.

We all know Val is on his way back to Phylum, but some other events are implied that could be considered spoilery (but no more than you’d get from a “next week on” kind of promo).

Subscribe now

Read more

Wren has an abrupt jolt back to consciousness, forcing her to do her best Rocky Balboa impression.

Read Chapter 47: Wren Picks a Fight

Subscribe now

This Week…

Wren scanned the alley floor, looking for anything the thief had missed. Shifting forward on her knees, she reached for the closest hydropak—

Fire shot through her right hand. She dropped the pak, inhaling a curse through gritted teeth. When she flexed her fingers, the protest of the tendons was a brutal reminder of knuckle meeting jaw. The chemical buzz of adrenaline was the only thing holding the worst of it at bay.

At least the stabbing in her neck and head had died down to a bearable ache. But there had been no metallic taste during the struggle, no chills beneath her skin. Did that mean the AI thought the scrawny thief wasn’t a real threat?

Read more

After evidence gathering . . . and more evidence gathering . . . Val decides to return to Phylum.

Read Chapter 46: Val Comes Around

Subscribe now

This Week…

The world surfaced in pieces. Hard floor under her ass. Cold plating pressing against her bare legs. That was bad.

Wasn’t it?

Something tugged at her jacket. Wren’s arm swung up instinctively, a clumsy swat that connected with nothing.

Go away.

Another tug, harder this time. Stale sweat. The smell cut through the haze. Sour, unwashed skin.

Not Val.

Not something she wanted to bury her nose in. Where was he any—wait.

Something else brushed the bare skin of her thigh.

Read more

Subscribe now

A Teaser…

The world surfaced in pieces. Hard floor under her ass. Cold, where her calves pressed against the metal. Bad. That was bad. Wasn’t it?

Something tugged at her jacket. Wren’s arm swung up instinctively, a clumsy swat that connected with nothing.

Go away.

Another pull at the jacket, sharper this time. Stale sweat. The smell cut through the haze. Sharp. Sour. Unwashed skin.

Not Val. Not something she wanted to bury her nose in.

Where was—wait.

Something else brushed against the bare skin of her thigh.

The alley. The clothes. Her head—

What the fuck is touching me?

Her eyes flew open.

The World…

SYSTEM ARCHIVE: PHYLUM

ENVIRONMENT Phylum is a massive sprawling, jury-rigged space station built from layered additions and retrofits. No two sectors match aesthetically. Industrial corridors run adjacent to market spaces; residential areas bleed into manufacturing zones. Power infrastructure is visible and exposed—conduits, cables, and processors patched into walls. Brownouts are semi-regular due to the massive amount of power required to sustain a billion inhabitants. Despite the hodgepodge construction, most areas are maintained and surprisingly orderly.

ECONOMY Phylum operates as an “everything market.” Legal, illegal, experimental, recycled, hacked—legality is irrelevant. The station trades in raw utility and value: black-market tech, grey-market cybernetics, impossible-to-get components, experimental modifications. It’s a one-stop shop for anyone willing to pay.

POWER STRUCTURE The station has no central government. Territory is controlled by competing gangs*. These factions maintain cooperation to keep Phylum operational—power grids, life support, docking infrastructure remain functional. Despite this arrangement, localized conflicts and turf wars still take place, though they are not the norm.

*As of this archive update, Solis and Sector 7 are thought to be the largest of Phylum’s approx. twelve gangs. Sector 7 recently absorbed the Novus syndicate following a strategic union of their respective leadership. Profiles on Solis leadership note a distinct fixation on pre-spaceflight artifacts and aesthetics.

Signal Sounds…

The sonic atmosphere of dubious life choices, undeniable tension, and maybe a hint of spacetime weirdness.

1. What I’m For 4:00

2. Friction Point 3:14

3. Borrowed Dark 3:37

4. Dangerous Agreement 2:27

5. Void Walker 2:21

6. Network Lost 1:43

7. Just Survive 1:10

8. Foreign Body 1:25

9. Name TBD (still…) 4:00

10. The Outpost 4:00

11. Through the Void 1:42

12. Thin Between Us 4:00

13. I bite my tongue till it tastes like steel 3:15

14. Through the Tunnels 4:00

15. Calculations 4:00

Share Coffee, Commas, Curses, & Cravings

Val did some heavy lifting and got his blood pumping in more ways than one.

Read Chapter 45: Val Deals With a Heavy Load

Subscribe now

This Week…

He’d set the coordinates for a clean burn back to Phylum—four hours of hard thrust if he pushed it. All he had to do was execute.

Instead, he just stared at the nav display. His palms were damp against the textured grips, a fine, irritating tremor in his fingers. On the screen, the return vector was a bright, steady line, waiting for a movement he was suddenly, stubbornly slow to make.

The impulse that had carried him to the pilot’s seat guttered out, leaving him staring at the console as the silence of the bridge rushed in. If Argus wasn’t actually on Phylum, it meant burning up a massive amount of reaction mass for nothing. He’d be turning the ship around based on bad instincts and a shift in traffic patterns.

He opened a comms channel to the same controller who’d cleared his departure. After a few seconds the connection opened with a burst of static.

“Loma,” the controller said. “Didn’t expect to hear from you again so soon.”

Read more

Wren showcases her shoplifting skills. Too bad she didn’t take something actually useful.

Read Chapter 44: Wren Palms a Package

Subscribe now

This Week…

The crate hit the empty pallet with a dull thud.

Val straightened, rolling his shoulders to work out the kink forming at the base of his neck. He ignored the automated mag-lift, needing the bite of the crate’s edge against his palms and the strain in his biceps to drown out the noise in his head.

The cargo hold finally looked right again now that all evidence of his passenger was gone. The space where her sleeping pad had been was just another section of deck now—clean, orderly.

Normal.

But the feeling that something was still wrong persisted. It was a low-level agitation, like a hum in the fusion drive he couldn’t isolate.

Hair fell across his forehead and into his eyes as he leaned down. He paused to push the slick strands back, and for a split second, there was another set of fingers sliding across his skin, brushing the hair back with a shocking gentleness.

Read more

Wren obtains some new clothes, but things go downhill from there pretty quickly.

Read Chapter 44: Wren Palms a Package

Subscribe now

The Writing…

The next mini-arc is a bit procedural and I was finding it dry, so I said “Brain, what can we do to make this more fun to write?” Eventually my brain spat out a beat with shirtless Val. Better, but I needed more. Consider the image above a teaser for the entire next chapter.

The Music…

Read more

Previously on The Signal…

Wren gets the medical supplies she needs, but is it going to come with a catch?

Read Chapter 43: Wren Liquidates Her Assets

Subscribe now

This Week…

Wait for it.

The customer by the check out was waving a hand, their voice climbing half an octave into the whine Wren knew well from triage lines. They jabbed a finger toward the top shelf. The clerk turned, craning his neck to look.

Her pulse knocked a frantic rhythm against her ribs, but she forced her posture to remain loose. She’d done this before: the supply tent on Gannis IV, mud caking her boots. Sweeping extra ration packs into her kit for the refugees while the logistics officer was busy flirting with the medtech.

Not theft. Resource reallocation based on critical need.

Same skills. Different mud.

The customer stepped forward, blocking the clerk’s line of sight completely.

Now.

Read more