A couple weeks ago, I blogged about "Clockpunk," a sub-genre of science fiction about anachronistic use of Renaissance technology — Da Vince automata in the stone age, etc.
Now, the Da Vinci Automata blog — a Clockpunk blog — is putting together its own Clockpunk anthology, using stories solicited from readers, and voted on by readers. They've just gotten their first submission, “On Deep History” by Jim Rossignol. I haven't read it, but this is a pretty cool project — I wish I had time to write something for it!
The disease collectors were famed for their lethargy. Belatedly, Stry realised he had not left himself enough time to deliver the bundles of infected wax, to claim a receipt from the collectors, and then still make it to the Lehmkuhl lectures on time. He could not afford to be late, since the tickets were issued only once a year, and then only through a lottery system controlled by the college.
Stry paced outside the clerk’s office in the Hall Of Ailment. The dark and lonely building was far from the central campus of the University. Deliberately isolated, as one might expect. Stry delivered garlic and disease samples for his wage, and was more familiar with the building than most other students. It troubled him less and less. The disease collectors were mostly ageing men of a certain disposition, and Stry gave them a wide birth as they shambled by, although he did not fear them. A few younger students had passed Stry in the hallway, but they too were pallid and exhausted, reeking of decomposition, weakness.
