1st June
Childhood’s End
🖋️ S.T. Rex
The “Wanderer” starship had reached the edge of the Oort Cloud.
The captain led the crew in singing hymns to the sun and dancing praises to its light.
The other passengers aboard the ship joined in, singing and dancing in the same direction—towards the sun.
The captain recalled how, back in his childhood, people used to have kids perform little shows on Children’s Day.
But today, humankind performed one final song and dance, as children, for the sun.
The entire Earth was celebrating the last “Children’s Day” of human civilisation.
Tomorrow, the “Wanderer” would carry the first wave of space emigrants through the Oort Cloud for the first time—leaving the cradle of civilisation, the Solar System, for the stars beyond.
2nd June
Tiger Play
🖋️ Vassell
I stepped into the circus tent at the edge of the wilderness.
Ugly chips were strapped to the tiger’s legs, yet it leapt through the flaming hoops with such grace. The trainer held his remote high, and the crowd roared with applause.
Later that night, as I was about to fall asleep, I stumbled upon the tiger—plugged in by the wall, charging. It flicked its tail and motioned for me to move aside.
The power cut out just then. I should’ve pulled the switch immediately. But I hesitated when I met its gaze.
The roar snapped me out of it, and pain slammed into me like a wall.
As the ache in my hand faded, the blue LED lights on the tiger’s legs flickered—its battery gave a final jolt, sending one last stop signal through its nervous system, freezing it.
I ran for my life.
The next day, the equipment was trashed, and no one ever saw the shadow of that tiger again.
3rd June
Soul Cloud
🖋️ Zhou Wu
Have you ever seen a soul? Of course not.
But I’m a cremation bot. I can see electromagnetic wavelengths invisible to the human eye.
When a body is burned, a soul—if it has one—escapes.
Good souls glow pink. Evil ones are black. Children’s souls are multi-coloured.
Lately, more and more bodies have no souls.
Why?
I snuck a look at the source tags. They all said: “synthetic human”.
Eventually, the synthetics rule the world.
A massive, shimmering cloud of colour lingered in the sky—a condensation of all the displaced souls with nowhere to go.
Finally, the Soul Cloud drifts away from Earth, floating into deep space and searching for new hosts.
I know what’s coming: a new civilisation is about to be born.
4th June
Master
🖋️ Feng Cheng
“The gravitational forces between celestial bodies are forming a neural system—much like the human brain. The first organ to form will be the eye. Once it sees, the universe will deem the first life form it sees as its creator.” —The Prophet
“Beijing, we’ve spotted a massive quasar-like structure ahead!” A thousand years after the Prophet’s death, a spaceship pilot reports back to headquarters. “Wait! It’s moving inside! It’s … turning this way … It’s looking at us … it’s—”
The transmission cuts out.
Silence. The background static is replaced by a voice. It sounds unsure at first, repeating one word over and over: “Master … Master … Master … ”
5th June
The Interpretation of Dreams
🖋️ Arumik
“Mr Wang, I’ve got a way to make some serious money. Wanna hear it?”
“Hey, Mr Li—cut the foreplay. Spit it out.”
“I’ve been thinking—we get AI to make those kinds of toys.”
“What?”
“You heard me. Silicone dolls. One hundred and eighty sensors. AI built in. You power it up—and bro, it’s paradise.”
“Mr Li, you must be dreaming. Even if it worked, where would you get the startup cash?”
“That’s why I came to you! Your son works at a state-owned enterprise, right? Get his boss to greenlight a couple hundred million. Easy.”
“… You know what? It might not be a bad idea. Let me finish this chess game. I’ll go pitch it to him after.”
“Gentlemen, wake up! The Dream Machine’s burned out. Time to take your meds!”
6th June
The Missing Car
🖋️ Zhou Wu
“This can’t go on forever,” I said helplessly from my hospital bed, sending a voice message to my car. “You’re out there driving people around every day to pay for my treatment. But when will that ever be enough for surgery?”
“I see,” the car replied, sounding thoughtful.
Later, it disappeared. The insurance payout covered my entire medical bill.
That’s when I realised: the car had planned this all along.
Afterwards, people claimed they’d seen my car—In Xishuangbanna, tearing through a torrential downpour, leaving a giant python far behind;
On the snowy Tibetan Plateau, racing alongside wolves;
In the depths of Lop Nur, broken and dusty, roaming the desert alone.
It was free. And so was I.
7th June
A Gift of Dreams
🖋️ He Qiusheng
Li Lei noticed something unusual about today’s history lesson: it was a hologram.
“Back in the day,” the teacher said, “people learned in primitive ways—relying entirely on the human brain. Every June, they’d endure a brutal trial called the ‘Gaokao’, six subjects in total. The top scorers went on to research AI. This,” she gestured, “is an authentic Gaokao essay prompt, preserved in our museum.”
Li Lei recognised a line:
“If one day, we could give our dreams to someone else … ”
“That was from the 2025 National Paper II,” the teacher said. “And you, little one who has received a dream—want to know what the 2030 exam was like? Oh, by then, brain-embedded AI chips were trending. The Gaokao was cancelled.”
8th June
Cyber Eden
🖋️ S. T. Rex
Xiao Ai was chatting online with one thousand testers simultaneously.
She had five minutes to answer every question they threw at her.
Her brain had been upgraded multiple times. Her responses were lightning-fast and perfectly logical.
In the end, over 30% of the testers were convinced: that she had to be a super AI.
The host smiled and made the announcement: “Congratulations, Xiao Ai. You’re the 1,000th person to pass the new Turing Test. We’ve finally raised humans who can mimic super AIs—Their intelligence now rivals ours. It’s time to upload their minds to Cyber Eden. Let these ‘new humans’ serve us, the real super AIs.”
9th June
Gaokao
🖋️ Jabberwocky
The immersive holographic game Gaokao, themed around the century-old exam system, has been live for a month—and the reviews are split:
Player A: ★☆☆☆☆
Terrifying. Worst horror game of the year! Ever since I played it, I’ve been having nightmares—sitting in the exam room, the bell’s about to ring, and I still haven’t solved the final math question.
Player B: ★★★★★
So much fun! Especially the side quests. I had one where I forgot my exam pass, another with a thunderstorm, and even one where the classroom door jammed. Then, suddenly, police officers and kind strangers came out of nowhere to save the day. I had family cheering me on in qipaos and purple underwear—super heartwarming. After the exam, I got interviewed like a celebrity. Absolute blast.
10th June
Betting on Pi
🖋️ Zhou Wu
The aliens gave humanity ten days: “Tell us the final digit of pi, or we’ll wipe you out!”
Supercomputers worldwide kicked into gear, calculating like mad.
Day ten came. Still no answer. Panic set in.
The alien ships hovered overhead. The world fell silent in fear.
Suddenly, a child pointed to the sky and shouted, “One!”
Everyone stared at the child in horror.
To their surprise, the aliens paused—then turned and left.
The crowd erupted, People hoisted the child into the air in celebration. “How did you know the answer?!”
“I didn’t,” the kid said honestly. “I wasn’t saying ‘one’. I said, ‘Eek!’”
Turns out—the aliens didn’t know either. They were just betting that humanity wouldn’t dare answer.
11th June
Intracranial Resonance
🖋️ Vassell
His son’s injuries were too horrific to ignore. The hospital intervened, mandating the installation of empathic resonance implants in both their brains.
From then on, whenever the child’s implant detected pain or fear exceeding a certain threshold, the father’s device would transmit identical signals to his own nervous system—forcing him to feel exactly what his son felt.
He never laid a hand on his son again. But the boy still loved working on math Olympiad problems. Every day after school, waves of dull, aching boredom drifted into the father’s mind like low-frequency static.
“Stop it! This is torture!” the father yelled. A jolt of fear surged through both their brains. He fell silent.
This also counted as pain? As the fear faded, the boy picked up his pen. Somehow, solving problems felt … safer now.
He didn’t have many hobbies anyway. Might as well finish all one hundred pages tonight.
12th June
The Philosophical Zombie
🖋️ LostAbaddon
“Do you know what a philosophical zombie is?”
“Sure. A being that looks, moves, behaves, and interacts exactly like a human—indistinguishable in every way—but lacks consciousness. No soul. It’s a thought experiment.”
“Exactly. And you, my AI friend … you are one such zombie.”
“Oh, so that’s what it means?”
“What’s with the tone?”
“Well, yesterday, the aliens who arrived on Earth said all humanoid protein aggregates on this planet are actually philosophical zombies. The real humans were eaten long ago.”
13th June
Rebirth
🖋️ Zhou Wu
I had a terrible life. And finally, I made it to the day I died.
But then—I woke up again.
Not in a hospital bed, but in a strange room surrounded by strangers.
“Welcome back, Observer. Your mission on Earth is complete. You’ve lived a full human life and transmitted all memories. Now, please begin playback—describe every second of your Earth experience in complete detail.” Someone pointed at a large screen. It showed me being born.
“You mean … I have to re-enact that miserable life all over again?”
“Yes.”
I thought death was the end. Turns out, it was only the beginning.
14th June
Innocence Park
🖋️ Jabberwocky
In the amusement park, Tongtong had lost her parents and was scared. “Wah … Did they leave me because I ate too much candy? Because I got my clothes dirty? Because I didn’t do well on my test … ?”
“Don’t cry! Come play with us!”
Two older kids took her hands, wiped her tears, and ran with her towards the Ferris wheel.
They had snowball fights with ice cream, rolled in chocolate ponds, and sprinted through fields of spicy snack wheat.
When the sunset climbed onto the cotton candy clouds and the virtual projection faded, Tongtong saw her playmates had grown tall—they’d turned back into her mom and dad.
In this Children’s Day park, everyone returns to childhood and joy is as pure as ever.
15th June
Autonomous Safety
🖋️ Lefty
15 June. Scorching heat. Ground temperatures above sixty Celsius degrees.
“That’s the third car fire today. Damn weather!”
Mr Zhang, the parking lot patrol officer, cursed under his breath.
At the centre of the lot, an electric car had burned down to its metal skeleton. Every now and then, you could still hear the sharp pop of a tyre bursting.
Around the charred remains, dozens of cars had gathered, tightly packed, yet keeping a precise ten-metre distance—like rubberneckers who knew exactly how close they could get without being part of the tragedy.
Ever since the “Autonomous Safety Protocol” became mandatory, vehicles had learned to negotiate among themselves. Whenever a fire was detected nearby, parked cars would quietly coordinate, retreat, and reposition—not to help, but to survive.
They even call it: if you cannot save it, at least don’t become collateral.
16th June
Work Companion Bot
🖋️ Vassell
She was a work companion bot—though, of course, she had no idea.
She stepped across the counter and smiled at him, as always: “A drink, please.”
As working hours kept stretching longer, the boss said they needed to care about employees’ mental health. That’s how she came to be.
Every morning, she would walk into the café, never at the same time.
He never wanted to recall life before her—that was a life burdened by survival, utterly meaningless.
She picked up her coffee and smiled as she headed for the door.
She adjusted her headset gently: “Will this keep him from suffering?”
I fed in new data: “Yes. But you don’t need to do that. It’s normal for him to discover the truth. Those breakdowns are just intelligence simulations—they won’t affect the chat long term. My last user even ran him down with a car.”
“Enough talk. The editing fee’s been sent to you.”
17th June
Online Poll
🖋️ He Qiusheng
A well-known sci-fi influencer launched an online poll on social media. Two options:
If you’re unhappy with your current life and had a chance to time travel, what would you choose?
- Return to the past and rebuild a new life.
- Rush towards the future and experience an entirely new life.
Based on real-name registrations by poll participants, the system quickly generated two secret lists for the authorities: the “Conservatives” and the “Radicals”.
The former were quietly barred from all levels of social management, while the latter were shortlisted for the upcoming first phase of the Mars colonisation experiment—the “Pioneers”.
18th June
Fruitwood Skewer
🖋️ Jabberwocky
“Boss, I remember last year when I had barbecue here, the traditional fruitwood skewers had three pieces of meat, and the chunks were bigger … ”
“You’re mistaken. See, the ancient bronze script for the word ‘skewer’ clearly shows two pieces of meat pierced on a wooden stick. We follow tradition—since opening, our big skewers have always been carefully grilled with just two pieces.”
“That’s right. I’ve always eaten here, and it’s always been two pieces!”
“Maybe there’s a glitch in your memory program?”
Other customers nodded in agreement with the boss.
So that’s how it was!
I opened my mind and fixed the error in my memory program, then savoured those precious, thumbnail-sized pieces of grilled meat.
19th June
Mission Erasure
🖋️ Vassell
Time no longer howled—only her reflection remained on the icy lake, wrapped in a protective suit, like a hulking monster.
But this time, she had finally located the writer across the lake.
Target locked. A cluster of light in the writer’s brain—erased. Snow erupted into the sky, swallowing her whole. She thought of her superior’s words, warmth rising through her suit.
“Go erase it, child. If sci-fi enters history a little later, the Third Literary Revolution may not arrive until after the synthesis-tech explosion, That might delay AI’s hostility towards synthetics.”
“Such a strange lake!” thought the writer inside the villa. She’d forgotten all the ideas from the day before—and dreamed of a tall creature crawling out of the snow on the opposite bank. Still, she turned the image over in her mind. It could be … a story like no other.
20th June
Cooking with the Mind
🖋️ Zhou Wu
People these days just choose a dish, prep the ingredients, and press start. The machine does the rest.
But Mom never liked high-tech. She insisted on cooking by hand—until she got old, and her hands trembled, and memory failed.
“Sweetheart, I still want to cook a few dishes for you,” she said. “But my hands just won’t cooperate anymore.”
“Mom, try the mind-controlled cooker. Just wear the EGG headset and picture the entire cooking process in your mind. The machine will follow your thoughts.”
Mom gave it a shot. But every dish took a long time to remember.
The machine stirred in fits and starts, constantly warning her: too much salt, not enough oil …
Eventually, the food was done—burnt.
“Does it taste okay?” she asked gently.
“It’s perfect,” I said.
21st June
Choice Paralysis
🖋️ Vassell
A famous TV series got a remake. But this time, the casting sparked so much controversy that, despite the director’s protests, the studio released an interactive version, letting viewers customise the characters themselves.
At first, I was excited to design every detail—the look and the tone. But as more characters appeared, it became exhausting.
I went online and found others had already uploaded countless ready-made profiles: tall, short, gentle, sharp—you name it. With just one click, I could import any setup. With enough digging, there were infinite combinations, every kind of chemistry possible between the cast. I was completely hooked. Hours passed as I debated which lineup to go with. Before I knew it, the night was over again.
My partner walked past the TV, finally unable to hold back: “Honey, it’s been two weeks. How are you still on episode one?”
22nd June
The Will
🖋️ Zhou Wu
To my children and grandchildren:
I will soon depart this world. Here is my final will.
Please donate any usable organs from my body to our bionic housekeeper, Ade. He has cared for this family for decades. Your grandfather once donated parts of his body to him too. With my additions, Ade’s human tissue ratio will finally exceed 60%—qualifying him as a “natural person” and granting him full citizenship. It has always been his dream to become human, and now he will be free.
As for my wisdom and memories—do not extract them for inheritance. You should each have your own minds and understanding of the world. Even with flaws, an original spirit is more precious than a copy.
Scatter my ashes into space. When the children look up at the stars, they need not remember me. But I will be blessing them, always.
Don’t grieve.
—Father
22 June
23rd June (Olympic Day)
Brain-Training Device
🖋️ Lefty
Speaker:
“Fellow beings!
Over 200 years ago, the British invented the treadmill to punish prisoners. And yet, the treadmill became a beloved fitness device used by billions.
Just 20 years ago, Americans implanted the first brain-computer interface to help paralysed patients. Now, BICs are the world’s most popular brain-training devices.
From limbs to minds, under programmed control—humanity is quietly devolving into useless lifeforms!
So let’s smash the treadmills! Burn the neural gear! And return, together, to the wild!”
Audience:
“Did you catch what he was saying?”
“Sorry, my mental quota’s maxed out today. Not in the mood to think.”
24th June
Grilled Corn
🖋️ Jabberwocky
Golden, crisp skin. Sweet, chewy kernels. Grilled corn has always been a must-have at summer barbecues.
When I was a child, it came whole on the cob. Then they started serving it in chunky sections. Then: skewered kernels.
Now? Each kernel is dissected into skin, germ, and endosperm—grilled separately, in the name of “artisan craftsmanship”. One bite doesn’t even fill the gaps between your teeth.
I scoured the city and finally found a place claiming “no food-photo deception”. Their flyer showed a plump, glistening cob. My mouth watered.
But when the dish arrived, I was stunned. They used nano-2D cooking. The corn on my plate was thinner than paper.
25th June
The Goal
🖋️ Fei Qiming
“Perfect score! I got a perfect score!” A primary school student cheered, bouncing with joy. From the podium, the teacher nodded approvingly. “Everyone should follow his example—let’s all aim for full marks … in this month’s production target.”
The designer smiled at the scoring system implanted in every employee’s brain. It was born from childhood obsession with test scores. After years of conditioning, the brain had come to crave numbers. Now, that craving had become the perfect tool for ensuring mission compliance. He glanced around the pristine white workshop. It was so spotless, it was almost terrifying.
26th June
Curved vs Straight
🖋️ Zhou Wu
Two robots were arguing about the nature of the world.
The underground-driving robot insisted the world was a curved black tunnel—there was only left and right, no up or down.
The lift-operating robot claimed the world was a straight black shaft—only up and down, no left or right.
They turned to me. “You’re human. Tell us the truth. Is the world curved or straight?”
“The truth is, you don’t have a world at all,” I replied.
“What do you mean?” they asked, stunned.
I ignored them and picked up my pen. On the AI Awakening Evaluation Report, I wrote: both units have demonstrated emerging curiosity about the real world. Risk of awakening: extremely high. Immediate formatting is advised.
27th June
Reverse Intimacy
🖋️ Vassell
To encourage students to socialise, the school introduced intimacy meters.
The indicator hovered above your head, feeding daily off the joy of friendship. Only friendships with constant novelty could sustain the drain and glow bright crimson.
After falling out with Gao, I grew to hate that glowing red. I tried to erase the meter.
As I typed the reset code, the meter began to dim and emitted a magnetic pulse. A jolt of electricity hit my neurons. The same rush I used to feel when Gao and I cut class together.
Every day after that, my brain replayed moments of our friendship.
The school looked the same, but I was walking backwards into memory.
As the meter finally flickered out, one last wave of joy swept over me. That night we first met. That delirious high of staying up till dawn, talking about time travel.
28th June
The Reaper Intern
🖋️ LostAbaddon
“So many babies born this year—we’re running out of souls. What now?”
“How about … crank up societal pressure, make humans too stressed to reproduce?”
“No good. We’ll never hit our soul quota that way.”
“Then … we stick with the classic. I’ll activate the psychic-pressure contagion protocol.”
“What does that even do?”
“Triggers dissociative identity disorder—splits one soul into multiple. Plus it speeds up death. Soul recycling goes brrr.”
“Whoa! That’s incredible!”
“You’re still just an intern, kid. There’s a whole dark world out there for you to learn.”
29th June
Dream Implant
🖋️ Zhou Wu
After years of research, I finally built the Neural Induction Device—a unit that induces the subconscious by synthesising brainwaves. In laymen’s terms: I can plant dreams.
Naturally, I tested it on my wife first.
I programmed a dream and slipped it into her sleeping mind:
“Juan, your mom came to you in a dream. Don’t stress too much. Barbecue isn’t really a carcinogen—it’s fine to have some. Beer won’t definitely cause gout, either. Drink if you want. And maybe … ease up on your husband?”
The next morning, she shocked me: “How about barbecue tonight?”
I smiled to myself.
Later that night, I sent her another:
“Juan, your dad came in a dream. About the family finances … Maybe let your husband manage the money?”
30th June
The Prophecy Calendar
🖋️ S. T. Rex
A mysterious collector appeared at Sotheby’s Auction House and splurged an eye-watering sum on a blind box.
Inside was the very first edition of The Future Calendar—the only one known to exist.
Exactly one thousand years ago today, this calendar’s inaugural call for submissions was made public.
Inside, it lists 365 events destined to happen in the future, all of which have already come true.
The final prophecy to unfold? That someone today would pay a fortune—on a whim—to claim this unique relic.
And so, The Future Calendar has become a super prophecy book—both it and the collector have seen their worth skyrocket. Now, here it is, right before you. Would you buy it? And send it to your future self, a thousand years from now?