Circuits and Secrets
Presented here are several narrative fragments that capture the tension of stories in progress. These short stories are deliberately left as unfinished tales, stripping away the comfort of a tidy resolution to focus on the atmosphere and conflict of the immediate moment. They function as open questions, inviting the audience to step into the scene and confront the unknown elements that linger at the edges of the text.
This initiative represents an ongoing inquiry into the relationship between human authorship and applied artificial intelligence research. By treating digital tools as partners in the creative workflow, this project seeks to uncover new methodologies for scriptwriting and storytelling, ultimately aiming to refine digital literacy within the arts.
From the neon-soaked streets typical of Cyberpunk to the grounded reality of Slice of Life, this post covers a wide emotional terrain. It further explores the adrenaline of Crime and Mystery genres alongside the complex machinations of a Political Thriller. The works featured here are authored by Jamie F. Bell and Tony Eetak, who have utilized these experimental workflows to generate these compelling, open-ended scenarios.
As you explore these excerpts, allow your own creativity to fill in the blanks left by the authors. These stories are yours to finish, offering a unique opportunity to engage with the narrative structure and decide how the mystery unfolds.
Today’s Unfinished Tales and Short Stories
Dive into a diverse selection of short stories that traverse the neon-lit streets of Cyberpunk, the intrigue of Crime and Political Thriller genres, and the emotional resonance of Poetic and Lyrical narratives. By juxtaposing elements like Boys Love (BL) and Sports Fiction with the tension of Mystery, this anthology highlights new frontiers in publishing. As champions of digital literacy, we are committed to exploring the potential of creative technology and AI-assisted narrative to transform how stories are told and experienced. Join us as we examine the intersection of classic Science Fiction and Dark Comedy in the era of new media.
The Hum of Burnt Wires
Author: Jamie F. Bell | Category: Science Fiction | Genre: Cyberpunk
The scavenged data-slate felt hot in Corey’s hands, a dangerous warmth that had nothing to do with its overworked processor. Below him, the Undermarket seethed with activity, a chaotic mess of noodle stalls, vapour lounges, and black-market component shops, all packed under the perpetually dripping underbelly of the city’s pristine upper levels. Every public console, every glowing advertisement, every citizen’s wrist-mounted interface was a node in the Stream, the curated flow of information that kept the city stable. And the file he possessed was a virus aimed at its heart.
Windchill
Author: Jamie F. Bell | Category: Boys Love (BL) | Genre: Slice of Life
A frantic walk through downtown Winnipeg in freezing weather, moving from the streets to the skywalks and finally to a bridge.
The Weight of Glazed Clay
Author: Jamie F. Bell | Category: Poetic / Lyrical | Genre: Crime
The air in the Manitoba Museum was a carefully curated blend of controlled humidity and the faint, papery scent of things long dead. It was the kind of quiet that felt heavy, a silence built from the reverence of schoolchildren and the shuffling feet of tourists. Dawson felt the counterfeit potshard in his jacket pocket, its smooth, fake glaze a small, cold point of reality against his hip in the otherwise historical dreamscape.
The Quarry Water Knows Your Name
Author: Jamie F. Bell | Category: Dark Comedy | Genre: Mystery
The heat was a physical weight, the kind of southern Ontario humidity that made the air feel like wet wool. Below the lip of the quarry, the water was a deceptive sheet of turquoise, hiding its depth, its cold, and now, the thing they had just dragged from its gut. The effort had left them breathless, not from the exertion but from the sudden, sharp reality of the object sitting on the flat rock between them.
The Northern Ridge Line
Author: Tony Eetak | Category: Sports Fiction | Genre: Political Thriller
The wind bit at my exposed skin, an icy gnaw that stripped away thought, leaving only instinct. Snow, relentless and unforgiving, swirled around our ankles, erasing our tracks almost as quickly as we made them. The sky above, a bruised purple-grey, pressed down with the weight of unshed tears, promising more blizzard. We were a flicker of warmth in an expanse of white, two figures against the vast, indifferent theatre of the Northern Ridge. This was no longer about the biathlon, not really. This was about survival.
About the Project
By design, these stories have no beginning and no end. Many stories are fictional, but many others are not. They are snapshots from worlds that never fully exist, inviting you to imagine what comes before and what happens next. We had fun exploring this project, and hope you will too.
The Unfinished Tales and Short Stories collection is part of an experimental, creative arts and research program by The Arts Incubator Winnipeg and the Art Borups Corners collectives. Each chapter is an interdisciplinary arts and narrative storytelling experiment focused on two key areas: AI-Assisted Scriptwriting, where researchers explore using AI to generate story ideas, plot structures, and alternative story arcs to enhance creative development; and Talent Development and Training, where the project studies the necessary skills for creative professionals to manage AI and immersive technologies in production, helping to inform future training curricula. The project was made possible with funding and support from the Ontario Arts Council Multi and Inter-Arts Projects program and the Government of Ontario. We thank them for supporting the arts, digital transformation research and innovation in Ontario.
About the Author
