Philippine Speculative Fiction Volume 9 has been released on Amazon, Flipreads, Kobo and iTunes. ! This is my second outing with the PSF series (the first, in 2011 was my first published story ever – Resurrection). Thank you to Andrew Drilon, Charles Tan and the good folks of Flipside Publishing.
PSF #9 has my cyberpunk revenge story “Panopticon”. Here’s a short excerpt:
“After a while, I staggered out of the toilet. Night had fallen and I looked around the deserted alley, wondering where I was supposed to go. A bicycle had been propped on a wall just in front of the lavatory entrance. As soon as I stepped towards it, the bike began to flash its lights, illuminating layers of advertising graffiti with a frail white fluorescence. The lights kept blinking until I put my hand on its bamboo handlebars.
A message popped on its digital odometer:
“Thank you for choosing a Shimano Intelligent Bicycle Mr. Salazar. The seat has been automatically adjusted to your height. Your route has already been pre-selected. Please climb aboard and simply pedal.”
I heaved myself up to the gel-padded saddle and kicked off. The bike guided me through the dark and narrow alleys that snaked through the labyrinth of tenements. Everything in New Tundon lay in the shadow of its sole skyscraper, the neon-lit Torre Paraiso.
I passed through the slums like a ghost. Through the yawning windows I saw people leading seemingly normal lives — playing mah-jongg or the card game pusoy dos, eating dinner or simply gathered around their living rooms, plugged into a legion of electronic devices. This was a town of old people, permanently idled; permanently trapped in the amber of unstructured time. Not a single child was in sight.”
Cover design by Kevin Roque.
The Infinite Library and Other Stories 
I must take time to read my copy. I love this excerpt, Victor. Very pleased to be in this volume with you.
Thanks Rochita! I think this is the first time we are sharing a TOC. I can’t wait to read your story.
[…] the subjects of Heaven and Hell are never far from the minds of most Filipinos. In my story Panopticon (2014) I explored the possibility of being trapped in a digital afterlife, tortured endlessly by a […]