One original sci-fi story per day for all of 2023 | Created by screenwriter Timothy Michael Cooper, illustrated using A.I.

Ninekiller

Ninekiller

You’re named before you're born, and your name is what you'll become. My buddy Sergio Banker became a teller at Wells Fargo. Hilary Gardener landscapes for a living. Naturally I, Jeffrey Ninekiller, tried other jobs: I majored in environmental studies, did NGO work in Venezuela. But eventually everyone gives in to their fate. My name being right on my birth certificate, all I can do is complete my tasks, then run. Yesterday I disposed of my seventh body; after two more, presumably I’ll lose my skills or let myself be caught. I'm just doing what I was born to do.