A lifetime later . . .
HENRI'S AVATAR
The Network, 20 June 2173, Sunday Night
A flash of existence. A triggering event. Ideas came to me, guiding me. There was something I was supposed to be, something I was supposed to do, something I was supposed to get, something I was supposed to remember.
I used to be good at remembering.
He used to be good at remembering.
I was not in any particular place. I was in many places—places with no walls or substance. Ghostly places. Digital places.
I hunger for certain data. I know I can find it in the interstices of networks and devices, hunt for it like a ravenous beast, root it out like a pig after truffles, lick it, absorb it.
How do I know about pigs?
How did I learn about truffles?
Names came to me like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle: Artois Mangalotte, Ezekiel Chaisson, my daughter.
His daughter.
I knew something bad was going to happen to her, and it would be my fault.
His fault. His failing. My problem. With God as my witness, I must protect her.
Who is God?
I understand I'm a creature of data and a creature of stealth. I grow. I absorb. I reboot. I hide.
And I now remember something else: I am Henri J. Knightly's avatar.
DU LIEST GERADE
The Pieces of My Self
Science FictionA hunt for treasure becomes a search for self. Lillian Fray, an adjunct professor at a community college, is asked to solve a puzzle involving a cryptogram and the link to a dead billionaire's sentient avatar. Her quest is fraught with racial politi...
