Twenty-four short stories. Twenty-four futures that may already be beginning.

SideTrack is a collection of bite-sized near-future science fiction built from 99% reality and 1% imagination.

An accident victim wakes to discover that his survival has left him with a body he no longer recognizes—and a debt that may define the rest of his existence.

A society replaces the body parts used in crimes with mechanical substitutes, turning ancient ideas of proportional punishment into modern technology.

Artificial organs force the courts to ask an uncomfortable question: how much of the human body can be replaced before a person is no longer considered human?

Elsewhere, a device can change your voice at will. An app can detect lies. English can be learned through memory manipulation. Carbon allowances can be bought and sold—along with the years of life they represent.

Each story begins with a simple “what if?” and follows it just far enough to become funny, unsettling, absurd, or disturbingly plausible.

The stories may seem unrelated at first. Together, they form a sidetrack into a future that may be much closer than it appears.

24 stories. One possible future.