The premise of this story is really interesting. The use of chess as a plot driver is great, but the twist added into it add a lovely extra dimension. The story effectively creates a small backstory in the setup and drives quickly and efficiently towards a good conclusion that I really enjoyed.

Nice. A great self contained tale.

I loved it! I also disagree with those who don't see it following the theme - Estoria was very definitely playing the part of strength in the narrative.

My only nitpick is that you have a typo in the 6th paragraph of the second column, "Estoria moved a second pawn to capture the one Estoria put forward". I'm pretty sure that Estoria was capturing K-7S2's pawn, not their own ;-)

The professor being clueless at the end and telling them to delete the data feels somewhat forced in that moment, but it's still a great read. Especially love the implications of what happened, and that it makes you think about how this will play out in the long run, will they realize during a med scan that there was poison, how is K-7S2 hiding this from the Delta Lab that is supposedly monitoring all of it or did they miss it, etc etc. It sets up a whole lot of possibilities, which is a big achievement for a 1k word story.

Loved this one! I agree with Caracal that the theme isn't as apparent as it could be. I could see how K-7S2's actions could be interpreted as more of a brute force method than true intellect, but it did still feel more like a battle of wits than strength vs intellect. That being said, I can't find anything else to critique and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it!

I loved this! one of my only real gripes is that I don’t see it reflecting the theme particularly well.

This is definitely an intelligence vs intelligence story, not intellect vs strength.

Still, a blast! You know you have a solid story when the biggest problem I have with it is that the word Stoked was used to describe an elf.

nice positioning, I enjoyed reading this and the idea of unintended consequence is on point with recent technology innovations

This has to be one of the best I've read so far. It was a very original take on the theme while still adhering to it.

Of the ones I read so far, best flow.

Technology working per design, i see nothing wrong here.

Technology working per design, i see nothing wrong here.

That's... ominous

Honestly, one of the best stories in this roster. I'll be looking at your work for inspiration next time!