I never got along with other kids growing up. Never knew why, they just seemed to delight in cruelty. When I met the old woman in the forest, I finally found a kindred spirit. But I also discovered...

Much was sacrificed to establish the colonies. Safe havens for what remains of humanity, after we were nearly wiped out by a plague. The nature of which is why we are so careful about who we let in.

After my plane went down in Antarctica, I feared it was the end for me. Instead, it was the beginning of my new life in a high tech shelter deep below the ice. I have plenty of...company...down here.

Even in such an idyllic village, danger is never far away. The priests keep it at bay with the prayers of the people, asking only that we never commit three unforgivable sins which destroyed the world

Hell is a state of mind.

First tale set in "The Institute" universe, Zachary talks a skeptical friend into accompanying him on an expedition. He refuses to believe in the supernatural, and Zach prefers it that way.

Relentlessly, man pursues technological progress. Before it has always improved his life. So little thought given to what it will all amount to when it reaches maturity.

An underwater colony established in the 1970s for the study of new age ideas, found mysteriously empty by a professional diver and an agent of "The Institute" who hired him as an escort.

Man has dreamed of giving life to the lifeless since time began. The story of Pygmalion. Of Pinnochio. But there exist some not of this world who have realized that dream, and rely on it to survive.

Television is a portal to other times and places. Sometimes literally.

If a man appears to be crazy, perhaps it's because he dances to music others do not hear.

The future. A place of beauty and promise. All manner of technological trends accelerating towards unknown destinations. One young man, privy to a secret presence, soon regrets helping it hide.