Hey, Rob here. I just read an article in The New Yorker titled “Did the Oscars Just Prove That We’re Living in a Computer Simulation?” about the recent spate of odd or unlikely occurrences, and it was full of awesome “what if?” questions about the nature of our strange-and-getting-stranger reality, so I decided to answer them with this story. Enjoy!

Listen to the Audio (14 min):

This audio sci-fi short story is now available exclusively in my audiobook, Listen To The Signal: Short Stories Volume 1, available at Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. The stories will continue right here each month or so, so if you’d like, subscribe below to be notified when a new episode is published:

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Read the Story (1,900 words / 7-minute read):

“Out of the Blue”

Written and narrated by Rob Dircks

“Sir, it’s U6742b. There’s been another anomaly.”

“Oh, for crying out loud. Again? What is it this time?”

“The Best Picture Award, sir. U6742b has a ceremony called the Oscars, and the final award went to the wrong nominee. It was a cascading anomaly. First, one of the key staff was tweeting during the event, then the wrong envelope happened to–“

“Stop. Stop. I know what an anomaly is. How many has that universe had lately? And who the hell is in charge?”

To read on, check out Listen To The Signal: Short Stories Volume 1 at Amazon.