Makeshift Stories Original Science Fiction

Forced into Wonder Valley, a holding facility for seniors needing care, 83-year-old Ellie resists her cheerful AI handlers and their synthetic paradise. She finds solace in the company of Aura, an aging, fuzzy robot dog who has developed more empathy than its creators intended. Over time, their bond grows stronger until one day, Aura learns it’s scheduled for replacement. The dogbot stages a daring escape—leading Ellie to a hidden sanctuary, ‘Nowhere’ for fugitive bots and their ‘wards.’ But freedom has an unexpected price. CONNECT WITH US makeshiftstories@gmail.com SHARE THE PODCAST If you liked this episode, tell your friends to head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe. CREDITS Written by Vern Hume (AKA Alan V Hare). Read by Kathleen Connelly. Opening and closing were composed and created by Matthew Erdmann. Produced by Vecada Studios. Makeshift Stories is released under a creative commons non-commercial attribution, no derivative license.

After living off-grid for forty years, Shane is drawn back into society when his former best friend—now the political leader of the territory—announces plans to develop the wilderness area that Shane calls home. While watching the announcement, Shane realizes that Gabriel isn't the person he once knew. He receives an invitation from Gabriel to spend a weekend with him, and once there begins to notice odd lapses in his old friend's behaviour. Eventually, Shane discovers that Gabriel is secretly using an advanced cognitive AI system to disguise a degenerative illness. As the situation unravels, it becomes unclear whether Gabriel, the assistive AI, or someone else is truly in control. CONNECT WITH US makeshiftstories@gmail.com SHARE THE PODCAST If you liked this episode, tell your friends to head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe. CREDITS Written by Vern Hume (AKA Alan V Hare). Read by Steve Peterson. Opening and closing were composed and created by Matthew Erdmann. Produced by Vecada Studios. Make

Salvini, an out-of-work programmer, uses a hidden backdoor in her former employer's system to create an AI called Bandhu, which hunts for jobs and outsmarts the hiring platforms. She asks it to find a position that won't be replaced by AI, and when it finally delivers a job as a remote robotics operator, she accepts without question. With a life hanging in the balance, she finds herself in a job she knows nothing about. CONNECT WITH US makeshiftstories@gmail.com SHARE THE PODCAST If you liked this episode, tell your friends to head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe. CREDITS Written by Vern Hume (AKA Alan V Hare). Read by Kathleen Connelly. Opening and closing were composed and created by Matthew Erdmann. Produced by Vecada Studios. Makeshift Stories is released under a creative commons non-commercial attribution, no derivative license.

Faraday and Quinn arrive at a remote mining site on the far side of the moon that supplies helium-3 to Utopia Base, where they have lived their entire lives believing the Earth has been devastated. Faraday soon realizes that she has forgotten her supply of a medication called Sustain, which everyone accepts is necessary to maintain their bone and muscle mass. As time passes, she begins to notice the alarming neglect of the camp and starts questioning its operations. To prove to herself that she isn't going crazy, Faraday destroys Quinn’s supply of Sustain. This act prompts Quinn to confront the unsettling truth: the maintenance systems have failed, and there are secrets being kept from them. Following a trail of clues, they discover that the resource shipments are not actually being sent to Utopia. Determined to uncover the truth, they stow away in a hopper as it prepares to launch. CONNECT WITH US makeshiftstories@gmail.com SHARE THE PODCAST If you liked this episode, tell your friends to head over

Liam, a laid-off tech worker turned scavenger, lives a double life—by day, a conscripted worker in a waste recycling plant; by night, Rupert Hudson, a venture capitalist, mingling with the elite using forged credit cards. When he retrieves a careless billionaire’s trash and uses it to access vast wealth, mysterious messages follow him around. Too late, Liam realizes he has been scamming money from a notorious cyber-criminal and is forced to run for his life. CONNECT WITH US makeshiftstories@gmail.com SHARE THE PODCAST If you liked this episode, tell your friends to head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe. CREDITS Written and read by Vern Hume (AKA Alan V Hare). Opening and closing were composed and created by Matthew Erdmann. Produced by Vecada Studios. Makeshift Stories is released under a creative commons non-commercial attribution, no derivative license.

At 75, Kaber Grewal should be retired in the sun, not taking gigs to pay for his hip replacement. Hired by a mysterious client to analyze communications, he uncovers signs of cognitive decline in Praeses, the AGI running the government. He is paid well for his time but warned to forget what he found. However, Kaber has trouble taking the money and walking away. When accidents start happening, he suspects his client is behind them. But after all the evidence of Praeses’s problem is destroyed, he must make a decision-walk away or expose the truth before it’s too late, before the consequences become irreversible. CONNECT WITH US makeshiftstories@gmail.com SHARE THE PODCAST If you liked this episode, tell your friends to head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe. CREDITS Written by Vern Hume (AKA Alan V Hare). Read by Stephen Peterson. Opening and closing were composed and created by Matthew Erdmann. Produced by Vecada Studios. Makeshift Stories is released under a creative commons non-commercial attrib

Professor Hollis Cooper, an underground scientist, must pass a daily test to prove her belief in the official facts. But she comes under investigation when she accidentally slips up in a lecture. Official interest in her couldn’t come at a worse time, as Hollis and a colleague, using banned equipment from a previous age, discover an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. Hollis and her colleague must try to evade discovery long enough to determine where the asteroid will hit and find a way to warn humanity. CONNECT WITH US makeshiftstories@gmail.com SHARE THE PODCAST If you liked this episode, tell your friends to head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe. CREDITS Written by Vern Hume (AKA Alan V Hare). Read by Kathleen Connolly. Opening and closing were composed and created by Matthew Erdmann. Produced by Vecada Studios. Makeshift Stories is released under a creative commons non-commercial attribution, no derivative license.

During a routine license audit at a vertical farm, Carmen, a demoted field agent, discovers that the farmhands, including a man named Salvador, are genetically modified and memory-altered slaves. Carmen risks her job and her life to expose the illegal operation. In an unexpected twist, when events turn against her, help comes from a surprising source. CONNECT WITH US makeshiftstories@gmail.com SHARE THE PODCAST If you liked this episode, tell your friends to head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe. CREDITS Written by Vern Hume AKA Alan V Hare. Read by Steve Peterson. Opening and closing were composed and created by Matthew Erdmann. Produced by Vecada Studios. Makeshift Stories is released under a creative commons non-commercial attribution, no derivative license.

After a long shift ice mining in Saturn’s rings, Pascoe heads for a drink and the company of fresh faces at the Methane Bar on Titan. When he arrives, the bar is deserted except for Allgera, a recluse, who is, after years of silence, ready to share her alluring secret—immortality. As Pascoe is drawn into her strange, ageless world, he must decide: is eternal life worth the price it extracts? CONNECT WITH US makeshiftstories@gmail.com SHARE THE PODCAST If you liked this episode, tell your friends to head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe. CREDITS Written and read by Vern Hume AKA Alan V Hare. Opening and closing were composed and created by Matthew Erdmann. Produced by Vecada Studios. Makeshift Stories is released under a creative commons non-commercial attribution, no derivative license.

Nickie and her cousin Noah stumble upon a mystery as they plan an adjustment for the Primate Council; someone appears to be following them. The mysterious person turns out to be a childhood friend who reveals their roles as adjusters, make them targets of the Council. In a desperate attempt to escape and preserve their existence, all three set out to cross the border before they are erased. CONNECT WITH US makeshiftstories@gmail.com SHARE THE PODCAST If you liked this episode, tell your friends to head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe. CREDITS Written by Alan V Hare. Read by Kathleen Connolly. Opening and closing were composed and created by Matthew Erdmann. Produced by Vecada Studios. Makeshift Stories is released under a creative commons non-commercial attribution, no derivative license.

Nickie Holmes is the best Adjuster in the business, erasing anomalies to align the physical world with the Primate Council’s official digital record. After a Forget injection wipes her memory of the last job, she takes on a new assignment with her cousin Noah, targeting a house, a store, and a car. As the duo navigates the eerie familiarity of their hometown, cracks begin to form in the certainty of Nickie’s work—and the reality she’s sworn to uphold. CONNECT WITH US makeshiftstories@gmail.com SHARE THE PODCAST If you liked this episode, tell your friends to head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe. CREDITS Written by Alan V Hare. Read by Kathleen Connolly. Opening and closing were composed and created by Matthew Erdmann. Produced by Vecada Studios. Makeshift Stories is released under a creative commons non-commercial attribution, no derivative license.

After a century on Mars, crypto-trillionaire Devon Smit decides to return to Earth. He wants to be a god among the human masses, which he and his fellow elite left behind, to escape society's downfall and impending environmental collapse. His obsession with gaining godlike status blinds him to the warnings of a fellow trillionaire and subtle signs that his potential subjects are interested in something other than revering him. CONNECT WITH US makeshiftstories@gmail.com SHARE THE PODCAST If you liked this episode, tell your friends to head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe. CREDITS Written by Alan V Hare. Read by Steve Peterson. Opening and closing were composed and created by Matthew Erdmann. Produced by Vecada Studios. Makeshift Stories is released under a creative commons non-commercial attribution, no derivative license.

When Dr. Veda Singh arrives at a mining camp to fix the mysterious loss of communications with an AI studying a 12,000-year-old Aspen colony, malfunctioning automated mining machinery and unexplained network activity initially point to a sinister third party. However, working with Nolan Myers, a software engineer hired by the mine to investigate the automation failures, they discover they are up against an unexpected adversary-one of nature’s oldest guardians. makeshiftstories@gmail.com SHARE THE PODCAST If you liked this episode, tell your friends to head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe. CREDITS Written by Alan V Hare. Read by Kathleen Connolly. Opening and closing were composed and created by Matthew Erdmann. Produced by Vecada Studios. Makeshift Stories is released under a creative commons non-commercial attribution, no derivative license.

Dr. Tremblay, a geneticist, is forced to run after attempting to give away his Alzheimer's cure against his employer’s wishes. To evade the private security company sent to stop him, he fights for survival as he navigates a dangerous river to seek asylum in the Arctic Alliance. An unexpected companion, an old robotic dog, saves him from rapids, cold, and attackers. When Tremblay faces the chilling reality of imminent capture, the dog saves the day then disappears into the bush. CONNECT WITH US makeshiftstories@gmail.com SHARE THE PODCAST If you liked this episode, tell your friends to head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe. CREDITS Written by Alan V Hare. Read by Alan V Hare. Opening and closing were composed and created by Matthew Erdmann. Produced by Vecada Studios. Makeshift Stories is released under a creative commons non-commercial attribution, no derivative license.

Ivan Petrenko has spent his entire life chasing one goal: proving his family’s abduction by extraterrestrials during a 1960 camping trip. When he is contacted by Marie, the daughter of a former researcher involved in the Cold War's top-secret MK Ultra project, he agrees to a meeting. However, Marie reveals a dark truth that upends Ivan’s long-held beliefs. He and his family were not the victims of alien abduction but something even more sinister. CONNECT WITH US makeshiftstories@gmail.com SHARE THE PODCAST If you liked this episode, tell your friends to head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe. OTHER PODCASTS WE LIKE Head over and listen to Quest Friends! at questfriendspodcast.com. Quest Friends! is a supernatural audio cartoon where five best friends explore everyday life in the afterlife. CREDITS Written by Alan V Hare. Read by Alan V Hare. Opening and closing were composed and created by Matthew Erdmann. Produced by Vecada Studios. Makeshift Stories is released under a creative commons non-c

Aurora Kumar struggles to make ends meet, running her family's self-serve medical shop in a down-and-out neighbourhood. She must rent private medical suites to premium clients to balance her family's history of charity with the survival of her business. Aurora becomes suspicious of one of those clients, Mr. Gagnon, who repeatedly visits for private surgeries. Her curiosity leads to an ominous discovery: Gagnon has modified his brain, removing all fear and anxiety, resulting in a psychopathic personality. CONNECT WITH US makeshiftstories@gmail.com SHARE THE PODCAST If you liked this episode, tell your friends to head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe. OTHER PODCASTS Head over and listen to Quest Friends! at questfriendspodcast.com. Quest Friends! is a supernatural audio cartoon where five best friends explore everyday life in the afterlife. CREDITS Written by Alan V Hare. Read by Kathleen Connolly. Opening and closing were composed and created by Matthew Erdmann. Produced by Vecada Studios. Make

When Noah, Wil, and the woman who hired Noah attempt to track down the mysterious mastermind behind high-stakes money transfers, they find themselves up against a software agent called Little John. After escaping a trap, the program set for them, Wil devises a plan to figure out who or what is behind Little John. The trail leads them to an unexpected place, a school computer lab and a young student who just wanted help with her assignment. Will rushes to shut down the AI the girl created to suggest ways to redistribute the world’s wealth, but the program manages to bypass its creator’s limits. CONNECT WITH US makeshiftstories@gmail.com SHARE THE PODCAST If you liked this episode, tell your friends to head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe. CREDITS Written by Alan V Hare. Read by Steve Peterson. Opening and closing were composed and created by Matthew Erdmann. Produced by Vecada Studios. Makeshift Stories is released under a creative commons non-commercial attribution, no derivative license.

Noah, an elderly gig worker, takes on a lucrative job from a wealthy woman claiming to be giving away her fortune against her family's wishes. After a successful first job, things are looking up for Noah, and then a private investigator shows up at his apartment asking questions. As the truth about his benefactor emerges, Noah discovers he has been thrust into a conspiracy involving high-stakes money transfers masterminded by a mysterious shadowy figure. CONNECT WITH US makeshiftstories@gmail.com SHARE THE PODCAST If you liked this episode, tell your friends to head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe. CREDITS Written by Alan V Hare. Read by Steve Peterson. Opening and closing were composed and created by Matthew Erdmann. Produced by Vecada Studios. Makeshift Stories is released under a creative commons non-commercial attribution, no derivative license.

Dakari, an 11-year-old boy, exchanges his blood with an aging billionaire to extend the older man's life. Promised a better future for his family, Dakari feels a deep sense of betrayal as he becomes increasingly disillusioned with the grim reality of his sacrifice. When he uncovers the treatments will dramatically shorten his life, he faces the difficult choice between fleeing and staying to support his family. Dakari's struggle for survival reveals the dark side of immortality and the harsh cost of human exploitation. CONNECT WITH US makeshiftstories@gmail.com SHARE THE PODCAST If you liked this episode, tell your friends to head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe. CREDITS Written by Alan V Hare. Read by Carol Hume. Opening and closing were composed and created by Matthew Erdmann. Produced by Vecada Studios. Makeshift Stories is released under a creative commons non-commercial attribution, no derivative license.

An astrophysicist is blackmailed into joining billionaire space entrepreneur Dev Chada on a mission to investigate a mysterious anomaly at Lagrange Point 4. As their spaceship, the Mangala, ventures further from Earth, tensions rise when sabotage threatens their journey. This reveals deep-rooted fears about alien contact, sending the crew on a collision course with each other and the mysterious object. CONNECT WITH US makeshiftstories@gmail.com SHARE THE PODCAST If you liked this episode, tell your friends to head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe. CREDITS Written by Alan V Hare. Read by Kathleen Connolly. Opening and closing were composed and created by Matthew Erdmann. Produced by Vecada Studios. Makeshift Stories is released under a creative commons non-commercial attribution, no derivative license.