Plague Doctor Children, Moral Mycelium and an Apocalyptic Tardigrade are a few of the strange creatures in Part One's short story collection.Part Two's three novellas pay homage to the empathetic, heroic, and gothic: In Empiphany, Jessica and Blair's community live in blissful happiness thanks to emotional transfers via touch, but they soon discover they're living in a utopian nightmare.Athena's Crucible is the goddess's last chance to save the fallen ancient Greek pantheon.And in The Diary of V. Frankenstein, simple changes spark big consequences in an alternative-reality telling of the gothic classic.