Threat Machine

With an early snow threatening to destroy her first good crop in years, Harper’s combine breaks down. When the dealer can’t fix it in a timely manner, she is forced to take matters into her own hands and get her neighbour to repair a broken belt. But when a software update detects the unauthorized repair, the machine turns on her, locks the cab, and drives toward a cliff. Harper barely escapes the crash, only to learn the manufacturer is out to make an example of her. CONNECT WITH US [email protected] SHARE THE PODCAST If you liked this episode, tell your friends to listen wherever they get their audio. 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.

Matteo works as a consultant for wealthy collectors, authenticating their purchases to ensure they are not AI-manufactured fakes, until his sister Renata vanishes after sending him a cryptic message concerning a fake insurance claim. After the authorities refuse to investigate, he is forced into the city’s slums to find her, where she has been working as a meat runner for an insurance AI. Matteo quickly uncovers a fraud built on tiny, deliberate distortions. CONNECT WITH US [email protected] 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 attribution, no derivative license.

While on holiday, Lena shows Erin an old photo of a woman who looks exactly like her. Initially, Erin dismisses the resemblance. However, when Lena reveals she is dying of cancer, Erin admits that it is her and that there are other historical images of her. She confesses that as a result of a strange encounter, she has lived for centuries. Desperate to save Lena, Erin tries to pass the gift on. But what transfers is not immortality alone. Lena is healed, and Erin finally understands the horror she has passed on. CONNECT WITH US [email protected] SHARE THE PODCAST If you liked this episode, tell your friends to listen wherever they get their audio. 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.

Hana Grabowski, a genetic engineer with a failing gene-mod business, takes a secretive contract to restore humanity’s appetite for impulsive behaviour. When her staff threatens to revolt, she uses a variant to alter their attitude. However, the mosquitoes she uses to infect them escape, unleashing a fast-spreading contagion that rewires human reward centers. The world slips into a pandemic of happiness, and no one cares except Hana. CONNECT WITH US [email protected] 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 Cathleen 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.

Nora, a scientist’s daughter, enlists true-crime host Alan Humphrey to solve the disappearance of her mother’s “deathbot.” At first, Humphrey is reluctant to take the job, but he can not resist the mystery. The clues soon take Humphrey from New Yellowknife to Uranium City, a defunct mining town. Once there, he uncovers a secret research project, whispered rumours about a deterrent, and something living beneath the northern forests. Is this a hoax, a rumour, or something else? Something out of control? CONNECT WITH US [email protected] 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 Vern Hume, Stephen Peterson, Cathleen Connelly and others. Sound effects and backgrounds by Vecada Studios. Restaurant ambience, cell phone chimes and wind obtained from www.zapsplat.com Opening and closing musiccomposed and recorded by Matthew Erdmann. Produced by Vecada Studios. Makeshift Stories is released under a creative commons non-commercial attribution, no derivative license.

Kenzo Tanaka, a washed-up intellectual property rights enforcer turned PI, takes a “lost dog” case from a woman he believes to be a dazzling biotech heiress. However, he soon discovers that the dog is a human-canine chimera growing a life-extending Klotho gland, which is highly illegal. His gene-hacker friend dies for the discovery, which leads Kenzo on a chase through the Great Plains Economic Zone’s lawless biotech underworld, ending at a mountain research compound guarded by weaponized hybrid dogs. As he escapes with the lost dog, Kenzo is confronted by his client, who turns out to be an organ broker working for a wealthy client. Although tempted by profit, Kenzo chooses not to hand over the dog and vanishes the prize for good. CONNECT WITH US [email protected] 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 attribution, no derivative license.

In exchange for the chance to reunite with his family, roboticist Sebit Deng has spent years on an isolated island in the South Pacific, building an android clone for aging industrialist Gregory Vance. As Vance approaches death, Sebit rushes to complete the transfer, only to discover that the industrialist has no intention of honouring their agreement. Blinded by anger, Sebit plots his revenge. However, in an unexpected twist, Vance manages to enact a vengeance of his own. CONNECT WITH US [email protected] 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 attribution, no derivative license.

When Surya, a hardware engineer, buys an old NASA computer at a garage sale, she uncovers lost Voyager 2 data. She tracks down a retired scientist named in the file, who claims the data indicates a killing wave of cosmic radiation is headed for Earth. As she and the old scientist race to confirm the analysis, they find themselves hunted by mysterious agents. CONNECT WITH US [email protected] 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.

Surya, a tech historian, buys an old Sun workstation at a garage sale, expecting a working example of a CPU her grandmother designed, not secrets. Accidentally left on the drive are two files of NASA’s lost Voyager 2 data. When she attempts to learn about the workstation’s history by contacting a name she discovers in one of the files, she attracts unwanted attention: break-ins, shadowy men, and veiled threats. She eventually tracks down Mark Danforth, a retired engineer now fading into dementia, who may hold the key. But someone will do anything to keep the files she has discovered buried. CONNECT WITH US [email protected] 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.

During a dive to repair a submersible mining robot, Rohan, a deep-sea specialist, discovers the true cause of the machine’s malfunction: the metallic nodules it was harvesting are alive, ancient, and lying in wait. Too late, Rohan realizes that they can hijack his mind and body. Trapped within himself, he helplessly watches as the entities twist his friend into a weapon for their own spread. CONNECT WITH US [email protected] 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 Pertson. 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.