What if the future solved every problem except the ones that make us human? In a world where families live in corporate housing complexes and pets are a relic of a forgotten age, a sixteen-year-old girl dreams of something as simple as a cat purring in her lap. Her parents, robotics engineers, build her one from circuits and polyester fur. But an android that learns may become something no one predicted. A castaway fights for survival on a planet impossibly far from Earth. A visionary seizes control of a weapon capable of ending all war, then confronts the oldest question of power: who watches the watchman? A family on vacation encounters visitors not of this world. And an ordinary man finds himself caught in the orbit of humanity's boldest reach for the stars. From the wonder of a child's wish to the terrible weight of absolute authority, these stories explore futures both intimate and vast. Inspired by the golden age tradition of Bradbury and Asimov, Gary W. Burris crafts tales that spark curiosity, test conscience, and ask whether the technologies we create will reveal the best in us, or the worst. Seven stories. Seven possibilities. The future is closer than you think.