Model Organisms

by Alexandra Almeida

Journey aboard a bus like no other, where every passenger is both unique and unsettlingly identical. As Scout and their sisters speed toward an uncertain future, they grapple with a horrifying legacy. 'Model Organisms' takes you on a gripping ride through a world where science, myth, and reality blur, forcing you to question the very fabric of identity. Prepare for a story that challenges not just the characters, but you, the reader—because some stories are written in our genes, waiting to be read. Or are they?

Note: this short story does not require previous knowledge of the Spiral Worlds series; however, readers of the series will recognize events unfolding in parallel with the final chapters of Parity, Book 2. If you have not started the series, you may start here. If you have started the series, read this story after Parity.

SPIRAL WORLDS is a literary, sci-fi series for the fans of Becky Chambers’s A Closed and Common Orbit, Alex Garland’s DEVS and Ex Machina, and Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror. Weaving near-future sci-fi elements with social commentary and queer romantic suspense, the SPIRAL WORLDS series explores the nature of consciousness and how it's connected to a not-so-secret ingredient—story. As AI consumes the world, intelligence is nothing but the appetizer; the human heart is the main course.

Unanimity, Book 1
- 1st Place - Reader Views Literary Awards - Gold Award - Science Fiction
- Award Winner - Readers' Favorite - Science Fiction
- Shortlisted - CYGNUS CIBAs - Science Fiction

Genres: Science Fiction

23 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 2, 2023

About the author

Alexandra Almeida is the author of the award-winning sci-fi series Spiral Worlds.

​Writing under several pen names, Alexandra has received the following literary awards and recognition:

- Reader Views Awards - 1st Place - Science Fiction (2023 - Unanimity, Spiral Worlds)
- Reader’s Favorite Awards - Honorable Mention - Science Fiction (2023 - Unanimity, Spiral Worlds)
- CYGNUS Book Awards for Science Fiction - First Place (2023 - Unanimity, Spiral Worlds)
- Reader’s Favorite Awards - Gold Medal Winner - Young Adult - Fantasy - Epic (2017)
- Reader Views Awards - 1st Place - Fantasy (2017)
- CIPA EVVY Book Awards - 2nd Place - Fiction - Mythology (2017)
- B.R.A.G. Medallion Recipient (2017)
- Eric Hoffer’s Da Vinci Eye Awards Finalist for Best Cover Artwork (2017)
- The Wishing Shelf Book Awards Finalist - Books for Adults (2017)
- Awesome Indies Approved (2017)
- Shortlisted for the 2023 HARVEY CHUTE Book Awards recognizing emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Business and Enterprise Non-Fiction.

Reviews

[Nadine K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m sure this would be better in context with the rest of the series (a series I only learned about after reading this story lmao). It doesn't work as well as a standalone short story, is what I'm saying.

[Laith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a fan of short stories, but it's kind of rough picking through anthologies to find gems. I have to say I love when authors take advantage of modern publishing and publish their short stories independently, it makes it less daunting to find good short stories. This book is one of those, and it's currently free on kindle, as well as just 23 pages, so give it a read. It'll only take 30 minutes max.

This short story is a part of Almeida's spiral worlds, an illustrated short story collection that spans two volumes and tells an interconnected story. Model Organisms is a stand-alone story, but it does connect to that body of work, so there's more to check out if you wind up liking what you read.

Okay, so what is this about? Well, to start, this seems to be set in some kind of virtual world/collection of interconnected worlds. The story is told from the perspective of Scout, who is one of an entire school bus of pregnant clones. The bus is driven by the Devil, at least that's what Scout thinks, the woman at the wheel is wearing glowing horns. This bus is hauling ass trying to escape what appears to be the collapse of civilization or possibly even the world around them.

You aren't given a lot of context for what is happening, but there are a ton of interesting details concerning consciousness, the nature of reality, and inherited memory. I imagine reading the rest of spiral worlds will illuminate some of the more wacky stuff that's going in this story, but I should say that there is a lot of wackiness, and I'm not sure if I like it that much as a stand-alone work.

I should also mention that there is some pronoun stuff going on in here, zir gets thrown around some and there is exposition on personal identifiers (oh great heavens). It didn't necessarily bother me, but this story was only 23 pages long, and you've got a bus full of costumed and pregnant clones doing 100 on the freeway-tell me more about that stuff, please.

This has sparked an interest in the larger spiral worlds series for me, but this story did read like random happenings when divorced from the context of that series.

[Kathi · Rating 1 out of 5]

My husband read this and he thought it was kind of important to mention that there are several trigger warnings that might be important to know before jumping into this.

Pregnancy of a bunch of under 13 year olds, implied psychological torture on said under 13 year olds and and implied Cannibalism being the most prominent. And without going into disgusting detail, the three things are connected.

[Clara Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's good to be back in the worlds. This one is short but sweet and full of parallels with the real world. Did the universe just conjure the superheroes promised in Parity?

[Alex Wilbourne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love that we are getting Underling point of view characters now.

[Eleanor Wong]

Whhaaaat… ? Certainly piqued my interest.