twitter – Andrew Careaga

In 49 BCE, following a seven-year campaign to expand the Roman Empire into Gaul (much of Western Europe), Junius Caesar, then a general of the Roman army, approached a river that signified an important boundary between Rome and the rest of the world. According to Roman law, if anyone crossed that river–the Rubicon–it would be considered an act of war.

As we know from history, Caesar crossed that line, uttering the words alea iacta est (“the die is cast”), a phrase that has come to mean, “no turning back.”

Earlier this week, a prestigious literary magazine, Granta, crossed a metaphorical Rubicon of its own when it published a prize-winning short story that, evidence strongly suggests, was written not by a human, but by artificial intelligence.

I’m happy as a creature feature fanatic to have my warped little micro story, “Devin Found a Flash Drive,” in the latest edition of the X/Twitter-only literary magazine, Mythic Picnic: MICRO MAYHEM v5 (Sci-Fi and Horror edition).

Since Mythic Picnic exists only on X/Twitter, I can’t link directly to my story, but click on the link above and scroll for a bit and you’ll find it. It’s the third piece from the top. But don’t skip the other micros in this issue; they’re all bangers, as the kids say.

Here’s a teaser for my story:

DEVIN FOUND A FLASH DRIVE by Andrew Careaga @andrewcareaga

It was on the sidewalk at his bus stop. Devin grabbed it—maybe it’ll have some games on it, he thought, or better yet, porn—and when he got home, plugged it into his laptop.

But the only file he found was called “readme.txt.” He opened it and read.

“Dear stranger,” it began. “I need your help. Desperately.”

Devin read on.

Category: twitter

Crossing the AI Rubicon

New micro fiction in ‘Mythic Picnic’