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StarShipSofa

StarShipSofa 777 Carrie Finch

·34 min·3 clips
A WWI soldier falls through the earth into a city of brass automata and yellow smoke.
The episode begins with host Tony C. Smith introducing show 777, mentioning his long-running podcast since 2006. He briefly promotes his gardening app 'Grow More, Cook More' before transitioning to the main content. The featured story is 'The Atomic City' by Carrie Finch, narrated by Donnie Nickel. The story opens in 1924 Missouri, where protagonist Johnny is at a party with Kate, drinking gin and smoking a mysterious pipe. The pipe triggers vivid flashbacks to 1918 during WWI. Johnny recalls falling through the earth into a strange city made of brass and steel, filled with yellow smoke and automata—mechanical humanoid beings. He explores this 'Automatic City,' observing automata marching and cleaning. A screen projection of a figure called 'Father' delivers a glitching, cheerful message to the city's inhabitants. Johnny meets an engineer in a jumpsuit who confesses he caused the city's breakdown by neglecting his duties, leading to 'Father' sending lightning that broke the automata. The engineer is violently attacked by automata, who tear off his arm. Johnny flees as automata chase him relentlessly through the city. He reaches the edge of the dome, finds no escape, and in desperation kicks through the glass, falling out into darkness. He later emerges near Paris in 1918 with no explanation. The story returns to 1924, with Johnny clinging to a tree in the rain, haunted by the memory and unable to dream. The episode ends with credits and a musical outro.

As heard by us

A fogbound science-fiction reading where broken ribs, a singing automation, and brass architecture turn disorientation into menace.

StarShipSofa 777 frames a science-fiction reading as a meeting point for fatigue, invention, and a place that seems to press in from every side. Tony C.

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Why you'd press play

Press play when you want a fogbound city, a singing automation, and rockets built word by word.

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