Showing results for "The Cone" in Science Fiction & Fantasy

The Cone is a short story by H. G. Wells, first published in 1895 in Unicorn. It was intended to be "the opening chapter of a sensational novel set in the Five Towns", later abandoned. The story is set at an ironworks in Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire. An artist is there to depict the industrial landscape; the manager of the ironworks discovers his affair with his wife, and takes him on a tour of the factory, where there are dangerous features.

World War III lasted only six days. Within the first few hours, my farm in Manitoba burned to the ground. The blast that destroyed our home came from the same mushroom cloud that killed my wife. I wish it had nuked me, too, but those heartless robots saved me. They also rescued my daughter, so I can’t damn them. She was the only thing keeping me alive… until the metaverse took her away. Yes, I’ve tried to kill myself. I may do it again. But that purple Domesticbot with its pompous British accent keeps on interfering.