The Arm Ouroboros by Adam-Troy Castro (Horror)
I know that I should not have done what I just did. I do not understand the madness that made me. I should get on the phone, somehow, call an ambulance, somehow, get these problems dealt with, somehow, but I live in fear of what I will find out if I do manage to stagger into an emergency room and somebody is able to tell me exactly what has become of my left hand.
The White Phoenix Feather: A Tale of Cuisine and Madness by Mary Robinette Kowal (Science Fiction)
Each samurai kept a stable of males, collecting them from other females and trading them with their favorites in the way a human might show dogs. Simple-minded and loyal, the ninjas could be set to tasks for which they would be rewarded with an opportunity to breed with the samurai.
Someday by James Patrick Kelly (Science Fiction)
But everything had changed after the scientists from space had landed on the old site across the river, and Daya had changed most of all. She kept her own counsel and was often hard to find. That spring she had told the elders that she didn’t need to travel to gather the right semen. Her village was happy and prosperous.
Mono No Aware by Ken Liu (Science Fiction)
The light from the sun pushes against the sail, propelling us on an ever widening, ever accelerating, spiraling orbit away from it. The acceleration pins all of us against the decks, gives everything weight.
Downtown by John Kessel (Science Fiction)
“What you gonna do down there?” the Duck asked. The Duck was puny and naïve. “Tell me something I ain’t gonna do,” I shot back. Well, that seemed to intrigue the Duck. “Can I come, too?”
Harsh Oasis by Paul Di Filippo (Science Fiction)
Your body is unique. Your cells are infinitely plastic. And you contain within you a library of forms. The genomes of all the mosaics ever spliced. You can recreate them at will. And other shapes as well.
Beyond the Garden Close by Mary Robinette Kowal (Science Fiction)
When the disc touched her skin, the cold sliced through her skull and made the roof of her mouth ache. It would monitor her actions and ensure no cheating occurred. The final trials for the prospective child-bearers differed every time, which didn’t stop people from trying to guarantee that their genes were the ones passed down.
Her Husband’s Hands by Adam-Troy Castro (Horror, Science Fiction)
Rebecca’s eyes inevitably wandered to the wrists, which ended in thick silver bands, a lot like bracelets except for the flat bottoms where arms should have emerged. They, Rebecca knew, contained not just the life support—without which her husband’s hands would just be graying meat—but also his most recent memory backup, without which everything he had ever been, and everything he had ever done, would now be gone.
With Caesar in the Underworld by Robert Silverberg (Fantasy)
The barker said, “Come, then, let me show you this splendid wizardry! It attracts men to women, women to men, and makes virgins rush out of their homes to find lovers!” He reached behind him, snatched up a rolled parchment scroll, and waved it in front of Menandros’s nose. “Here, friend, here! You take a pure papyrus and write on it, with the blood of an ass, the magical words contained on this..."