Weekly Unfinished Tales and Short Stories from our Dataset
Welcome to our weekly dispatch from the ‘Unfinished Tales and Short Stories’ collection, a core component of our ongoing creative arts and research program. This interdisciplinary project was undertaken not for a specific commercial outcome, but for the joy of the experiment itself—to have fun with narrative and to learn what we can do at the intersection of human creativity and emerging technologies.
These narrative fragments are more than just creative exercises; they are vital data points for our project’s primary research goals. Each story serves as a testbed for AI-assisted scriptwriting, allowing us to explore how generative models can be used for idea generation, plot structuring, and exploring alternative story arcs. Simultaneously, they inform our study into talent development, helping us map the skills and training needs for creative professionals who will manage the convergence of AI, immersive technologies, and classic storytelling craft.
Today’s Unfinished Tales and Short Stories
The Lacquer of Still Moments
Author: Jamie F. Bell | Category: Superhero | Genre: Military Fiction
The sound was not a scream, but the colour of one. A piercing, synthetic violet that sliced through the thin walls of his quarters and scraped directly against his teeth. It was the sound of something that should not be, the official tone for a category of problem that had no business existing within the agreed-upon laws of physics. It meant broken time, and it meant he had less than three minutes to be armed, armoured, and operational.
The Trapper’s Glass Eye
Author: Jamie F. Bell | Category: Mystery | Genre: Domestic Thriller
The thing that didn’t belong was a button. Not a pioneer’s bone button or a soldier’s brass one, but a small, pearlescent disc from a girl’s coat. It sat dead centre in the taxidermied beaver’s left eye socket, a clean, bright circle against the dusty brown glass of the right. No one was supposed to be in the Fur Trade room after closing, but the lock on the back door had been jimmied with a pop can tab for years. The air in here always smelled the same: mothballs, cracked leather, and the faint, sweet odour of decay that clung to the stuffed animals.
A Concordance of Birds
Author: Jamie F. Bell | Category: Dystopian | Genre: Espionage / Spy Fiction
The question hung in the air, as dry and brittle as the pinned moths in the display case behind him. It wasn’t a real question. It was a final seal, a locking of the mechanism before the timer began its silent, inexorable count. Outside, a miserable autumn wind rattled the window frames of the Tamarack Valley Community Museum, carrying the scent of wet, decaying leaves and distant woodsmoke.
The Porcelain Tithe
Author: Jamie F. Bell | Category: Gothic | Genre: Action-Adventure
It wasn’t a proper cold. Not the kind that bit your nose and made your lungs ache. This cold was smooth and quiet, like the inside of a glass marble. It didn’t seem to want to hurt you; it just wanted you to stop moving, to become a still and silent part of the endless, frozen landscape. Before him, the chasm breathed out a plume of pale blue air that smelled of ozone and forgotten sugar.
Where the Bearings Seize
Author: Jamie F. Bell | Category: Military Fiction | Genre: Contemporary Fiction
The rain didn’t fall so much as it moved in horizontal sheets, slamming against the control room’s single pane of reinforced glass with the sound of thrown gravel. Inside, the air was a stale cocktail of hot vacuum tubes, damp wool, and the faint, coppery scent of failing electronics. It was a smell Kenny was coming to associate with his new life: the smell of decay held barely at bay.
Design Notes and Applied Research
This collection demonstrates a focused exploration of narrative craft across a spectrum of high-stakes genres. The inclusion of Military Fiction, Espionage, and Dystopian subjects challenged participants to develop intricate world-building and precise plotting. Simultaneously, elements from Domestic Thriller and Gothic fiction provided a framework for cultivating atmosphere and psychological tension, pushing the boundaries of character development within established conventions.
As an inquiry into digital transformation, these genres offered a practical lens for examining how traditional storytelling adapts to new media. The structures inherent in Action-Adventure and Superhero narratives are particularly suited for transmedia applications, from interactive fiction to serialized digital content. This project served as a valuable and engaging experiment, effectively highlighting the intersection of classic genre writing and the evolving digital landscape of the arts.
About the Project
The Unfinished Tales and Short Stories collection was an interdisciplinary arts and narrative storytelling experiment in 2025. It was part of a creative arts and participatory research project by The Arts Incubator Winnipeg and the Art Borups Corners collectives. It focuses on two key areas: AI-Assisted Storytelling and Scriptwriting, exploring AI tools for generating ideas, plot structures, and story arcs; and Talent Development and Training, studying digital skills, literacy and training needs for creative professionals by experimenting with AI and immersive technologies to inform future projects. Funding and support were generously provided by the Ontario Arts Council Multi and Inter-Arts Projects program and the Government of Ontario. We thank them for supporting the arts, digital transformation, and applied Artificial Intelligence (AI) research.
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