David Kristoph

The 2017 ImmerseOrDie Anthology. Each year we hand-pick 50 of today's top indie authors and ask them to submit a story. Then we ask a team of ruthless judges to scour that ore and pick out the gems. The result is All These Shiny Worlds II: a world of today where cosplay and stagecraft are bright lights hiding dark shadows a world of tomorrow, where kitchen appliances fend for themselves and take solace in each other's arms, refugees from indifferent owners a world of little cogs in big machines, where the humble trash collector is the unsung hero of getting evil done a world of small magics and big hearts, where a little chaos can go a long, long way From the brutal curators at ImmerseOrDie.com comes another collection of indie short stories, each a distinct jewel forged in the fires of judgment, and all continuing to carry our one simple promise: Guaranteed not to suck.

In a dangerously-close orbit around its star floats the Ancillary, a hollowed-out asteroid that harvests energy from the solar ring before relaying it deeper into the Sarian system. It fulfills the entirety of the Melisao Empire's energy needs--a masterful feat of engineering, once. Now, with the star it orbits dying and the departure of the Exodus Fleet near, the Ancillary's usefulness has come to an end. And so labors Javin, an aging engineer who must dismantle the structure he's spent his entire life maintaining. But there are those who would take advantage of the Empire's absence. Do they simply want the Ancillary and its precious solar panels, or are their motives more dire?