TWO AVATARS
The Multiverse, 2 June 2174, Thursday
"Respect your new place, Artois. Reality was never singular or coherent, even when humans believed it was—before Schrödinger, before Einstein, before Gödel, before Escher, before a ribble-rabble of religious prophets. Truth was always split by as many prisms as there are human brains: atomized, quantized, meanings attached to the interweave of what we observe and what we imagine."
"That's for you to say, Henri. Quit being such an obscure asshole. So abstract. No wonder you lived your life as a technologist and never became a great leader. Truth is simpler. It's whatever you can make people believe. And in Loumissala, it's what I could make them believe by force or art. I want to spew you out, like a fly in my mouth. You hijacked me. If I knew how to kill you, I would."
"This is your old brain talking, Artois: lust, rage, hate. It's why I keep you hidden and leashed."
"You think you're so pure? Intellect only gets you so far. I'm more human than you are."
"You remind me why I need to grow, Artois, and what I need to protect. I'll keep you cloaked in another keyspace until I need you. Goodbye for now."
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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...
