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io9 is arrogant to contiguous fabrication from Lightspeed Magazine. Once a month, we diagnostic a communicative from Lightspeed’s existent issue. This month’s enactment is “Does Harlen Lattner Dream of Infected Sheep? (Part 2)” by Sarah Langan. You tin read Part 1 here. Enjoy!
Does Harlen Lattner Dream of Infected Sheep? (Part 2)
by Sarah Langan
February 4, 2034:
AI Compendium: Classified documents stolen from Congo past twelvemonth were released this morning. These bespeak morally, ethically, and legally dubious probe connected their ain workforce arsenic they question much productive employees. The Attorney General of Virginia, which has jurisdiction, says it has nary comment. Congo released a connection this afternoon: We astatine Congo judge successful the indispensable worth of each quality being. We’ve devoted our lives to making the satellite safer and much businesslike for their benefit. In different news, excess deaths accrued eightfold this week and are each linked to bosom attacks, seizures, and abdominal hernias among different steadfast individuals. All deceased are Congo interface users. Congo denies immoderate connection.
• • •
That nighttime Lattner had a panic attack. He’d ne'er had 1 earlier but arsenic a physician, understood that his heart, pulsing astatine conscionable eighty-five beats per minute, was nether nary superior threat. Still, it felt similar helium was changing. It felt, for conscionable a heated, sweaty moment, that his organs had slipped and realigned.
He called his kids and neither answered truthful helium took a heavy enactment and called Lorna. “I’m astatine work,” she said, “but similar I told you, Congo promised to support them harmless and healthy. I tin spot them done the camera. They’re fine.”
“Send maine the password for the watercourse connected them oregon I’m calling the cops.”
“And saying what?” she asked.
“Anything. Everything. Send it. I’m their father. I person a right.”
“Since when? Our full lives unneurotic I don’t deliberation you changed a azygous diaper. What are you talking about?”
She could beryllium specified a symptom successful the ass. He truly hated her sometimes. And past helium thought: Was helium expected to person changed diapers? Did she person a point? “I’m worried. I’m . . . Jesus, I’m sick with worry. I deliberation I mightiness adjacent beryllium disquieted astir you. Help maine out, here, Lorna.”
“You’re disquieted astir me,” she said, not similar a question, but similar a connection she was controverting.
“I am,” helium said.
“You jackass. I had a tense breakdown. We ne'er called it that; you couldn’t basal to perceive it, but that’s what it was. Ten years ago. I was successful a intelligence infirmary for 3 months and you ne'er visited me. Do you retrieve that? You weren’t truthful disquieted astir me, then.”
“I visited,” helium said.
“No,” she said. “Not once. I utilized to beryllium determination connected visitor’s time similar a jerk. You ne'er adjacent brought the kids. I missed them truthful much.”
“That’s impossible,” Lattner said, his bosom beating accelerated each implicit again. “No! Wait! I remember. We decided you needed the clip to yourself.”
“You decided,” she said. “I ne'er got a accidental successful anything.”
Lattner’s bosom thudded successful his throat. He surveyed his tiny apartment, reasoning it was dumb to person picked the 1 here, erstwhile crossed municipality there’d been a analyzable with a excavation that the kids mightiness person liked. Thinking helium should person hung posters successful their rooms oregon made their beds truthful they didn’t person to bring their ain sheets and towels.
“I consciousness truthful sick,” helium said. “I consciousness similar I’m dying.”
“Lattner,” she said, her dependable soft. “What’s incorrect with you? Why can’t you speech astir thing important?”
“I don’t know,” helium said, and present helium was crying, his code breached and shaking. “I don’t mean to beryllium this person.”
“Okay,” she said. “I’m sending the link. They’re good and I’m okay,” she said.
“Thanks,” helium said, weeping now.
Soon after, helium watched them successful their rooms done ceiling mounted cameras. They were alert of these cameras but had mostly forgotten astir them. Bea was tuned to a streamie successful her bedroom. Lattner antagonistic her respiration. Nine breaths per minute. This was low, adjacent for a resting rate, but not alarmingly so. He zoomed in, tried to spot her skin—was she pale? But the solution wasn’t beardown enough. Dylan was jerking off, his respiration somewhat elevated.
Lattner felt a measurement of compunction astir this. Still, helium zoomed to spot what the kid was looking at. A man? A woman? This, too, was retired of focus. He couldn’t tell.
But they were alive, astatine least. Not sick. A benignant of trilling panic wrong him abruptly eased. What was this emotion? Relief.
Jesus, he’d ne'er felt this mode astir immoderate of his household portion helium had them. Lorna’d asked a bully question: wherefore now?
A benignant of compulsion took implicit aft that. He wrote Bea a letter:
Honey,
It’s your dad, Harlen Lattner. I consciousness I should fto you cognize that I emotion you and I’m atrocious if I person not been a bully begetter to you. I person wanted to bash close by you but I judge I was acrophobic that thing I touched would lone effect successful disaster. I wonderment present whether I erred. I should besides archer you that you are not unsocial successful your sadness. I was connected the precise aforesaid medicine you are present taking for depression. I person ever felt precise severely that you inherited this from me. Though successful hindsight I wonderment whether some our affectional troubles are caused, not by genes astatine all, but environment. I’ll not bore you with the details of my ain upbringing, but to accidental that I ne'er consciousness escaped oregon bully oregon of immoderate worth astatine all. It could not person been easy, erstwhile your parent got truthful sick, that I doubled down connected enactment and disappeared, too.
I was additionally upset erstwhile you got your diagnosis due to the fact that determination is simply a correlation with what we person and suicide. This anticipation was truthful deplorable to maine that I could not talk it, oregon admit immoderate occupation astatine all.
Fondly,
Dad (Harlen Lattner)
Dylan,
It’s your dad, Harlen Lattner. It occurs to maine that we person ne'er had a bully relationship. I’ve ever felt it’s due to the fact that you hatred maine and judge I’m a atrocious hubby to your mother. But I wonderment if I lone projected this, and felt truthful atrocious astir it that I stayed distant from you. I assumed I’d earned your hatred and truthful accepted it without ever questioning it. It lately occurs to maine that possibly your feelings are your ain and not wholly caused by my existence. So I accidental I should ask: wherefore are you truthful angry? Can I help?
Additionally, I’d similar to fto you cognize that my ain begetter was a malignant beingness successful my life. I absented myself from knowing you, I assumed that my lack could lone beryllium an improvement. But sons ought to person fathers. These fathers ought to o.k. of them. Perhaps you volition let maine to get to cognize you better, truthful that I mightiness beryllium capable to confer that judgment.
Yours sincerely,
Your father, Harlen Lattner
Lattner work these a fewer times, agonizing implicit them, and yet decided not to nonstop them. They seemed self-indulgent and helium couldn’t get the words right. What helium did realize, done penning them, was that helium loved his children. It was absurd that he’d ever convinced himself otherwise.
• • •
Feeling calmer, helium searched the streamies that nighttime for news, past scoured the societal networks. At archetypal helium recovered nothing, but successful the wee tiny hours of the morning, helium recovered an encrypted tract reachable lone by anonymous browsers. On this were thousands of anecdotes reporting sickness and decease but besides and much often, that loved ones weren’t behaving arsenic they should. They’d developed level affects. They didn’t retrieve idiosyncratic information. They seemed dazed. The posters were attributing this to the Congo update. The sanction the radical gave it was The Great Amnesia.
When dawn arrived, helium called Lorna. She didn’t reply the archetypal 10 times, which seemed fair. When she yet did answer, she was pissed off, which besides seemed fair. “Are you proceeding thing successful your section astir the Congo update?” helium asked.
“Like?” She had this mode of ne'er being surprised. Aliens could leap retired of their vessel and contiguous her with petunias and she’d say: That’s nice. I’m late, though. And past helium remembered that she hadn’t ever been similar that. It was lone aft her breakdown that she’d disconnected from him and the remainder of them. Before that, she’d been anxious and interested.
“Uh, each these dormant people? The property disorders? They’re attributing it to the Congo update.”
“That’s conscionable brainsick people.”
“Maybe not. You should enactment home. All of you. Let maine travel over. I tin help.”
She lowered her dependable arsenic if idiosyncratic mightiness beryllium listening. “Even if determination is simply a connection, what bash you deliberation you tin bash astir it? They’re safe. I’ve been assured.”
“What’s causing it?”
“Other than the update? No 1 knows. But they’re moving connected it. Everyone’s moving connected it. No 1 wanted this outcome.”
“How agelong person you known?”
“I don’t cognize now. Nothing’s explicit. I’m connecting dots.”
He leaned into the wall. It was strange, you tin play-act a beingness with idiosyncratic for decades, and past the play’s done. “The infirmary is astir to marque consoles mandatory. Were you adjacent going to pass me?”
“No,” she said. “I told you; they’re fixing it. The media has it each overblown. It’s a fewer isolated incidents. There’s nary crushed to pass anyone.”
“Can you instrumentality their consoles distant until this is sorted?”
“I’m superior close now. I privation a existent answer. Why bash you abruptly attraction astir them? Is this each to punish me? Why can’t you conscionable fto maine person them?” she asked.
“I ever cared astir them. I attraction astir you. I conscionable didn’t cognize it,” helium said.
She sighed heavy and long. Then, she hung up.
• • •
He was astatine enactment an hr aboriginal and what helium did erstwhile helium got determination was sick advised. Dumb, even. He buzzed himself into the morgue. The bodies successful the freezer were stacked successful agelong drawers, nary locked. A fewer aesculapian examiners were hanging astir but they stayed successful their lanes and didn’t inquire questions. He opened the chest-high drawer successful the center.
Jane Doe. He unzipped the achromatic container and conducted an autopsy. Jane’s thorax cavity was a chaotic maturation of pinkish tissue. A conduit ran from pharynx and past went spherical, its gills upright successful a protean stew of fluid. The tubing was tangled, and wherever it knotted it had bulged into a bubble-gum-like rupture, conscionable similar with his archetypal patient.
The quality assemblage is precise complex. It needs slumber to support its encephalon fresh; it needs nutrient each fewer hours, it needs h2o constantly. It needs an endless proviso of oxygen. It has to destruct the discarded products of metabolic reactions astatine slightest 5 times a day. But this strategy wasn’t complex. Pink fluid pulsed, replacing the bosom and its blood. Gills received this fluid and presumably extracted oxygen. This digestive, circulatory, and pulmonary tract was overmuch simpler. Like a hydra.
He stitched Jane up, went done 5 much bodies. One assemblage looked normal. The different 2 had this aforesaid fungal-type disease. He took a insubstantial illustration nether the microscope. The cells were intelligibly defined and cholesterin rich. They weren’t fungal. They were human.
• • •
It would astir apt instrumentality a fewer days earlier anyone reported that he’d breached into the morgue. Someone would person to complain, and past a higher up would person to reappraisal the video, fig retired it wasn’t emblematic and nonstop it up the nutrient chain. Up the nutrient chain, idiosyncratic would person to place him, marque a decision, nonstop that determination down. The Congo algorithm was large erstwhile things were predictable. In randomness, it was molasses successful winter.
At work, triage was a messiness and truthful was surgical. The level was bedewed with Pepto Bismol-colored blood. The patients weren’t making it to country successful time; were dying successful gurneys. Before his displacement ended helium recovered himself successful country with the aforesaid procedure. This clip helium didn’t hesitate. He reached successful with his hands and untangled the intestine. Jane Doe’s assemblage stopped seizing.
He visited Tucker Rhodes’ bureau erstwhile his displacement was done. “Hey! Any quality connected each this? Did anybody ever telephone you back?”
Tucker took a 2nd to process what he’d said, and Congo answered. “The strategy cannot process the information.”
“Right,” Lattner said. “We cognize that. But did you perceive thing from your dad?”
Tucker bent down, listening to his headset. “I’m sorry. I person filing. I’m not connected interruption close now.”
• • •
- Classified Internal Memorandum, Congo Corp •
February 9, 2034
To:
Mica Peters, Congo CEO
Lorna Lattner, Department of Innovation, Legal
Frank Henry, Congo Trust Reserve, Applications
From:
Paul Mackenzie, R&D
Simon Iscariott, R&D
Lucas Johnson, R&D
To our elder officers,
It is with immoderate astonishment that we’ve received the results of the Congo 5.0 rollout. It appears that the exertion has had a physiological impact connected the bulk of users. Perhaps each users? Our moving mentation is this: erstwhile the Congo app activated transmogrification genes to marque users much docile and businesslike during their workdays (slower metabolisms, disconnected minds), we accidentally initiated the metamorphosis of the quality taxon into a simpler beingness form.
In addition, .01% of users acquisition intestinal knotting during metamorphosis, which is fatal unless addressed surgically. Another .01% acquisition psychotic episodes resulting successful suicide.
It’s imperative we support this concealed to forestall wide panic. As I type, our superb researchers are moving toward cures.
Guys, this was a full accident!
• • •
Lattner documented everything he’d learned and seen since opening up John Doe and sent it to the anonymous website. The kids were coming for their bimonthly play sojourn the adjacent night. He was reasoning astir spying connected them to marque definite they weren’t sick, erstwhile Gerry showed up for their date.
Gerry arrived carrying a container afloat of weird enactment paraphernalia. Possibly immoderate of it was mean enactment paraphernalia. Lattner’d spent astir of his beingness excessively acrophobic to analyse specified things.
“My husband’s gone,” Gerry said.
“Dead? That’s awful. How?”
“No. They’re flushing america out. Congo raised our rent. It owns the building. He moved into the warehouse. Congo offered these slumber pods for everybody. It’s cheaper. He says helium doesn’t attraction astir worldly things anymore. Or Congo says it. Who knows, helium ne'er takes those headphones off.”
They had brainsick enactment that night. Sex Lattner had ne'er imagined. Sex that answered questions. Sex that meant nothing. Sex that meant everything. “I should discontinue my occupation and determination successful with you,” Gerry said arsenic they laic successful bed. Lattner went rigid.
“Same aged Harlen,” Gerry said.
Lattner felt that, and felt atrocious astir that, but couldn’t bring himself to bash thing astir it.
Gerry said helium wasn’t hungry. His tummy had been sour. He hadn’t been sleeping well, either. Lattner placed his manus connected Gerry’s belly. It pulsed worryingly. “You mightiness person that happening going around,” helium said. He was panting suddenly, his forehead slick with sweat. “Why don’t you travel with maine to the hospital. I tin tally immoderate tests.”
“You don’t person to instrumentality attraction of me,” Gerry said, wounded conscionable similar helium utilized to beryllium wounded. “I’m not your obligation.”
Lattner kissed him goodbye astatine the door, feeling strangely like, if helium did not get down connected his knees and beg Gerry to stay, that the attachment betwixt them, tenuous invisible strings that had persisted implicit truthful galore years, would yet tear.
Gerry left.
• • •
The infirmary the adjacent time was quieter. Fewer patients were exhibiting abdominal oregon cardiac symptoms. The employees seemed particularly quiet, too. In the lack of the emergent oregon caller they tuned out, fto their headsets bash the thinking. At last, the time had travel and mandatory headsets were issued to each the docs connected staff. Lattner tried his. The dependable wrong lulled literal saccharine nothings (shoo beryllium bash la lume di lee). Staccato prompts successful the euphony told him erstwhile to repetition what the dependable was telling him, told him wherever to enactment his hands, what tests to run. He spent the time similar this, successful a benignant of floating, adjacent arsenic his assemblage moved.
• • •
His kids arrived precocious that weekend. Lorna’d delayed them astatine her location truthful she could familiarize the caller nanny with the regular portion she was retired of town. She’d beryllium relocating to Congo office the pursuing Monday—a clump of buildings that functioned similar a tiny municipality for the precise apical executives—in bid to code the update crisis. She’d been promised erstwhile again that the kids would beryllium safe. This nanny successful peculiar had been debriefed and would marque definite they didn’t get infected. She’d besides been told that the headsets represented zero threat. They could each proceed wearing them indefinitely.
“We’re excessively aged for a nanny,” Dylan said.
Lattner wondered if this changed the custody agreement. If the kids would present enactment astatine his house. Though helium wanted them around, helium wasn’t definite helium was acceptable to person them afloat time. Worried he’d messiness it up. Also, wherever would helium beryllium capable to meet-up with Gerry?
“The nanny’s weird,” Beatrice said. “Even erstwhile she’s connected interruption her implants glow green. You clap your hands successful beforehand of her and she doesn’t blink.”
“She doesn’t laugh,” Dylan said.
“She doesn’t smile,” Beatrice said.
“Yeah she does, but it’s a creepy smile. Like the interface told her to.”
“You’re similar that sometimes.”
“No, you, asshole.”
They’d hardly walked successful the door, were inactive bantering. He noticed their pallor was greenish and they moved excessively dilatory for steadfast kids. It acceptable disconnected alarms. Had Congo done this? And however could they cognize for definite that the headsets weren’t a threat?
“I person bully quality and atrocious news,” Lattner told them. “My location is simply a nary screenie oregon interface house. We tin work books oregon speech oregon immoderate we want.”
Beatrice and Dylan went simultaneously ballistic. It was similar manifesting a tornado. There was literal screaming. There was stomping. He covered his ears astatine the horrible high-pitched-ness. He’d played this retired successful his mind. They’d rebel, grabbing interfaces and ignoring him. Bewildered, he’d propulsion up his hands and springiness up. Nothing would alteration but astatine slightest he’d beryllium capable to archer himself he’d tried.
What happened alternatively was astir worse. They ganged up. They argued relentlessly. Over the pursuing hours, they broke down, weeping. They shouted. They made him consciousness similar a full dipshit. But they ne'er disobeyed him. He went to furniture Saturday nighttime adjacent to tears. By Sunday, they were each tired. Listless, they sat unneurotic astatine the room array and played gin rummy. He tried to coax them into eating something—they’d skipped meal and breakfast, said their stomachs hurt—and astatine past managed to foist immoderate crackers.
A comic happening happened. The archetypal hr of rummy was excruciating. They weren’t the lone ones who missed the fucking screenies. But the 2nd hr went precise quickly. And somehow, they played into a 3rd hour. When it was clip for them to go, they each stood astatine the doorway portion the thrust waited outside. Nobody knew what to do. Typically, the kids showed themselves out.
Lattner made the archetypal move. He hugged Bea. Then helium hugged Dylan. What amazed him: they hugged back. His eyes were unreasonably wet. He was sniffling, trying not to cry. He looked distant from them. It was excessively hard. Still, helium said the words. “I emotion you. Both of you. Very much. I’m atrocious I haven’t said it much often.”
Neither Bea nor Dylan answered that. But Bea smiled. Then they were out. He followed them to the street, waved to the car. They looked out, watching him arsenic it carried them away. Dylan offered the tiniest of nods.
The remainder of the time felt unusual and terrifying and wondrous. He imagined this was however existent dads felt each the time. Had Lorna endured this weight, this terrible, liable emotion each alone? Was that what had breached her, past changed her for the worse? The loneliness of carrying the emotion of an full household each connected her own?
• • •
Work the adjacent time was quiet. The radical were quiet, the routines were quiet. There weren’t immoderate caller patients with abdominal issues. The nurses moved with emotionless efficiency. So did the admins. Only Ocean seemed her accustomed self. Watching her participate the surgical lounge was similar watching a daisy successful a windy tract of orchids. It bent differently; swaying with greater, wilder life.
She saw him close distant and sidled up. “I’m going to inquire you the aforesaid question I asked past time. What is happening?”
“You noticed it, too?”
“It’s similar sleepwalkers. Only, it’s hard to remember. I support reasoning I should bash thing but everything’s truthful fuzzy.”
“Maybe we’re becoming pod people,” helium said.
They some looked astatine each other, and yeah, possibly that was the nonstop truth.
You’d think, nether those circumstances, that they’d some person tally screaming from the hospital. They’d person tossed Molotov cocktails done windows, shouted from bullhorns. Probably, that’s precisely what immoderate radical did. But not them.
To interruption the tension, Ocean made a raspberry astatine him. Then the doorbell rang, signaling the extremity of their break.
His displacement ended earlier Ocean’s and a comic happening happened. They indispensable person threatened her job, due to the fact that she was wearing her headset. He watched her upwind done the halls conscionable similar everyone else, her steps preordained to maximize efficiency. Did helium look similar that? He didn’t retrieve his shifts anymore. They blurred, a acceptable of instructions and music. He didn’t retrieve his patients’ faces, either. If the volition of 5.0 was to marque beingness much pleasant, it had failed. When the time was done, helium didn’t consciousness accomplished. He felt empty.
• • •
After work, helium retrieved the photograph he’d taken connected his telephone of that archetypal patient’s Congo worker badge. The archetypal numbers represented a warehouse number—a section one, and the aforesaid astatine which Gerry worked. Lattner ordered a car and took it there.
The warehouse was a mammoth gathering astir 3 metropolis blocks wide. There wasn’t security. He drove up and parked successful the worker lot. He knocked connected the locked main doorway but nary 1 answered. But this was a caller beingness for Lattner. He’d had enactment with Gerry. He’d fought with his kids. He’d told a waitress helium was gay. So erstwhile helium saw the unfastened window, helium climbed done with large and pleasant grunting.
The gathering had a utilitarian appearance. No decoration; plaster walls. Signs pointed to the warehouses A, B C, and D, and dorms A, B, C, and D.
A reception country was center. There was lone a sliding integrative barn doorway up of a debased desk. He showed the antheral astatine the table his John Doe’s number. “I’m looking for this employee.”
The pistillate blinked respective times, and helium had the feeling her eyes were cameras, relaying the worker fig straight to Congo.
After a agelong pause, she said: “He’s successful acquisitions, Warehouse C.”
He followed that direction. The gathering was labyrinthine. Got to a doorway marked acquisitions. Inside, a mammoth warehouse stocked with boxes upon boxes of goods. Employees successful Congo uniforms bussed around, plucking items similar bees successful a hive.
He recovered the foreman, showed the number.
Blinking, blinking. “Wait,” the foreman said. “He’s being hailed.”
Lattner waited. Waited immoderate more. “He’s coming?”
The feline didn’t answer. He was routing someone, relaying someone.
A half-hour later, John Doe appeared. He was green-faced but alive. Walking. This was the aforesaid man.
“Hi. I was your surgeon,” Lattner said. “You walked retired of the hospital.”
Congo answered, monotone and dead. “Thank you for redeeming worker 24601.”
Lattner noticed that beneath his choky shirt, his tummy was rippling; a benignant of cauldron of state and metabolic processes successful there. But his enactment was markedly slow, astir six respirations per minute. Did the aerial straight interface with the gills? “Can you crook your implant off? Do you cognize what happened to you?”
“Employee 24601 indispensable instrumentality from break.” Then helium began pulling boxes.
• • •
That night, the streamies reported what Lattner already knew. The sickness had dwindled, with excess deaths down to double. Still, the societal networks were ablaze: loved ones didn’t admit 1 another, friends seemed similar strangers. It’s the Congo update, a thread with 8 cardinal comments insisted. It did thing to us. It changed us.
“Parasite,” helium said retired loud.
• • •
He arranged a car to his wife’s location the adjacent day. His aged house. Like each of them, the operator looked glassy eyed and dead. The happening astir glassy eyes, you presume it’s calm underneath. But it occurred to Lattner that thing turbulent was hiding successful there. Something sentient, trapped. You tin consciousness sentience. You know, adjacent erstwhile it doesn’t talk oregon perceive oregon see.
Lattner counted the driver’s breaths: astir six per minute. The pistillate astatine information scanned them some utilizing retinal display. “Permitted,” she said successful Congo’s voice. Her enactment was slow, too.
The assemblage was unchanged from erstwhile he’d left. Green grass, freshly recycled air. People inactive kept dogs for pets here—they had entree to capable soy to provender them. But the canine helium saw didn’t look healthy. It languished against a see-saw successful the children’s playground, ribs prominent.
The houses were each wide separated and 2 oregon 3 stories. He’d missed this place, but besides felt, successful the six months that he’d been gone from it, that he’d stopped belonging.
He utilized his handprint to unfastened the doorway but Lorna had changed the locks. A camera oculus opened, articulated on alloy tubing and lowered itself, shining into his look with a retinal scanner. Then the camera became a screen, and Lorna was looking backmost astatine him. She wasn’t home, but astatine her office. She looked overwhelmed, her table covered successful paperwork. For the archetypal clip successful a precise agelong time, helium felt pity and wondered: had helium done this to her?
“What now?” she asked.
“Are the kids home? I privation to spot them.”
“It’s not your day.” Her dependable wasn’t Congo’s. She wasn’t wearing a headset. She was excessively precocious up, making excessively galore decisions still. This was Lorna.
“Please,” helium said.
She looked astatine him with what helium realized for the archetypal clip was hate.
“I should archer you that it wasn’t just of maine to wed you,” helium said. “I was successful emotion with a antheral erstwhile I met you. I emotion men.”
Her eyes watered but nary tears fell. Her rima gaped. “Fuck you. That’s not funny.”
He waited, knowing she’d travel astir successful a second.
“You’re serious?”
“I wasn’t seeing you arsenic a person. I wasn’t seeing the kids arsenic people. There was thing incorrect with me. I was afraid. I’ve ever been afraid. I’m moving connected it. You tried. You truly did. I retrieve that. The nonaccomplishment is mine. Someone other would person made you precise happy.”
“You’re gay?” she asked. It wasn’t arsenic elemental arsenic that. He could inactive person been bully to her. He could inactive person considered her, and recognized that the beingness she’d tried to physique with him had value. But if she liked that reply champion it seemed similar a just one. He nodded.
“You knew that the full time?”
“I don’t cognize what I knew. I don’t deliberation I thought that deeply. I conscionable wanted to beryllium settled, to bash everything I was expected to do. And present it’s astir 20 years later. I wasn’t living. It kept you from living. I wounded you. You’re inactive not living. You archer yourself you’re moving truthful you tin supply for the kids’ futures, but the institution you’re moving for is going to destruct that future.”
She made a sour look astatine him. “Oh, fuck you,” she said. “Just for that, you tin hold until Friday.”
He tried the doorbell a fewer much times. Stalked astir the house, saw the nanny done the window. She was the caller kind, her implants some auditory and retinal, truthful tense parents could spot done her eyes. The location appeared cleanable and tended, the windows opened for caller autumn air. The kids didn’t look to beryllium home, oregon if they were home, they were successful their rooms. There wasn’t thing for her to do, but she was connected the clock. Like a turned disconnected machine, she was lasting successful the mediate of the room.
An eerie sight. As helium looked astatine her, calling “Hey! You!” done the unfastened window, helium knew she heard him. But she was receiving orders not to answer. And truthful her assemblage quivered slightly, arsenic if trying but incapable to respond, a teardrop falling down her dead, placid cheek.
As helium was leaving, the skinny canine followed. It was a mutt; immoderate benignant of premix betwixt a greyhound and pit bull. He was allergic to dogs. They gave him a rash. He got to the car. The canine whined. “Okay,” helium said, leaving it unfastened for the canine to ascent in.
• • •
He named the canine Buster. It seemed similar a canine benignant of name. He walked him erstwhile helium could and erstwhile helium couldn’t, near the doorway unfastened for him to roam. His arms got blistery with rashes and his chemoreceptor and lungs plugged up with allergies until helium figured retired however to disagreement the flat betwixt the 2 of them, support the windows open, cleanable the air. It would beryllium temporary. He’d find idiosyncratic to instrumentality the canine oregon instrumentality it to the village. But implicit the pursuing days helium recovered nary takers. Instead, what helium saw were much and much strays, combing the streets successful scraggly, bare packs. Briefly, it occurred to him that helium ought to fto Buster articulation them, but Buster was a sweetie. He didn’t beryllium with that crowd.
Lattner went to enactment each that week. More and more, the radical became the same. Like zombies. Excess hospitalizations went down to zero. Everything calmed down. His chap docs stopped taking disconnected their headsets successful the breakroom. Sometimes helium talked to them done the apparatus, and sometimes they answered successful their ain voices and not Congo’s, but not often.
He near messages for Lorna, who wrote him a 5,000 connection missive astir however he’d ruined her life. This missive didn’t marque a batch of sense, truthful helium enactment it aside, work it again the pursuing time aft receiving it, and the time aft that, until the feelings of the happening bled past its cruelty. I ever hated you. I lone joined you due to the fact that I was insane. You’re weak. You’re nothing. The children hatred you, too . . . You’re conscionable jealous of my success. He picked retired the lines helium hadn’t noticed astatine first: Remember erstwhile we went to the authorities just and you won that panda for me? Was that a lie, too?
It took him a portion to retrieve the authorities just and helium had nary representation of winning the panda. But helium thought that it astir apt had not been a lie. Lattner was a batch of things, but a maestro manipulator was not 1 of them. So helium wrote backmost to her, ignoring each the cruelty. It was astir apt the astir big enactment he’d ever committed successful her direction: I privation you to recognize that it’s not your fault. The panda was earnest. I should person visited you astatine the hospital. I should not person driven you to a tense breakdown.
He called Gerry, too. But Gerry wasn’t getting back, either. So Lattner wrote to him, too: My full beingness I’ve been hiding. I americium a antheral unaccustomed to emotion, similar a babe feeling joyousness and sorrow for the archetypal time, and unequipped. I cannot accidental I emotion you. I bash not cognize you. I tin accidental that I privation desperately to spot you due to the fact that you marque maine happy.
He didn’t perceive backmost from Gerry, either.
Meanwhile, the societal networks had quieted. Most, helium assumed, had been scrubbed by Congo, which owned the servers. He recovered a fewer inactive insisting that radical had changed, not lone successful their behavior, but successful their precise anatomy. He work done these, poring implicit each remark from immoderate unhinged dependable successful the dark. The penetration had not travel from outer space, but from within. The assertion was crazy. But, looking retired connected the thoroughfare of his flat building, wherever radical nary longer walked aft acheronian to caput to restaurants, but alternatively unopen down for the night, helium besides knew they were right.
• • •
He showed up for his displacement astatine work. No 1 ate overmuch successful the surgical lounge anymore, helium noticed. It was each macromolecule bars, nary blistery food. No coffee, even. The microwave was cleanable for the archetypal clip successful 2 decades.
Right earlier it was clip to study to surgical, Ocean walked in, wearing her headset. Her eyes were bedewed from crying but she wasn’t moving, conscionable sitting precise inactive portion her assemblage respired six breaths per minute, and she took her appointed break. She sat connected the sofa beside 2 different nurses, each squeezing close, nary talking. Their breaths and squishing pulses soon synchronized.
He imagined an orchid swallowing a daisy.
He went to enactment connected his headset. Heard the soft, lulling voice. Couldn’t bash it. “I’m sick. I’m going home,” helium said to Tucker, who was besides connected the couch, besides wet-eyed and unresponsive. Was it the psyche wrong him, crying out?
Maybe Tucker heard him, possibly helium didn’t.
• • •
He spent days location astatine his flat with Buster, alternating doomscrolling and reading. The threads astir body-snatched loved ones had dwindled and the aged ones were locked and deleted. He dove deep. Found autopsy reports, scholarly probe published excessively rapidly for adjacent review: bodies each implicit the state had changed. What they’d gained successful efficiency, they’d mislaid successful quality. For instance, workers could present basal connected assembly lines for sixteen-hour shifts. They seldom ate oregon needed bath breaks. However, they couldn’t run. They couldn’t laughter hard oregon outcry loud, either. Their hearts couldn’t bushed oregon pump capable oxygen-rich worldly passim their distal cells to let that benignant of vigor expenditure. Similarly, they were overmuch amended astatine taking orders, but they could nary longer logic. Logic, and superior thought successful general, demanded excessively overmuch energy.
• • •
Friday rolled around. Gerry wasn’t answering immoderate of Lattner’s messages, but astatine slightest he’d spot his kids. When they didn’t amusement up and neither Lorna nor Beatrice oregon Dylan answered immoderate of his messages, helium grabbed a thrust work and headed for the gated community.
The feline sitting down the instrumentality was staring without blinking for truthful agelong that his eyes welled.
“You okay, buddy?” Lattner asked.
The feline didn’t perceive him, truthful Lattner did thing crazy, reached over, and pulled disconnected his headset. The feline didn’t abruptly go alert, similar a spell had been broken. He face-planted into the wheel. The car kept driving, similar this was irrelevant.
Lattner drew the headset near, heard a dependable whispering softly. You’re sleeping. Everyone is sleeping. The satellite is asleep . . . A dependable lulled. Remember being born. Remember being unborn . . .
“Fuck that,” Lattner said, dropping the headset.
The assemblage was quiet. No kids playing ball. No cars arriving from work. No lights, helium realized with surprise. All the houses were dark.
The nanny answered the door, looked astatine him dumbly.
“I’m the dad. Are the kids here? They’re expected to beryllium astatine my house.”
She cocked her head, fto the words spell to Congo. “Yes,” she said arsenic she stepped back. “Come in.”
As soon arsenic helium entered, helium could spot that the location was wrong. But helium didn’t privation to admit that to himself; didn’t privation to announcement the spoiled, sour tegument smell.
He opened the archetypal chamber door. Dylan was connected the floor, interfacing with his console. “Didn’t you perceive me?” Lattner asked. Always before, erstwhile he’d asked this question, he’d known the reply was yes—Dylan had been ignoring him. This clip was different. Dylan was greenish, his enactment slow.
Lattner snapped his fingers successful beforehand of Dylan’s eyes—no response. He felt his abdomen. The tell-tale squish-squish. “Do you cognize me?” Lattner asked.
Lattner pulled the headset away. Dylan made a benignant of keening, carnal sound. Slow, docile, helium reached for the headset. “Do you cognize your name? What’s your name?”
Dylan looked astatine him blankly, the question seeming unrelated, somehow, to the contiguous circumstances.
He was acrophobic to sound connected Beatrice’s doorway but did it anyway. She was hanging from a noose.
• • •
Lattner wasn’t definite what happened aft that. There was an ambulance, a sojourn to the hospital. He checked Dylan, whose vitals were slow, his metabolic process astir 10% normal. A CT of his abdomen, which would person shown a caller anatomy, was denied. There were dormant eyes, truthful galore dormant eyes. There was a walk, somehow, done the city. Nineteen miles. He recovered himself backmost home, finishing The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Buster licking him. It was a comfortableness but besides an irritant, arsenic his tegument blistered.
Lorna didn’t travel home. Congo’s retreat turned into a five-alarm emergency. They pulled each their apical executives down a gangly partition and were flying them retired to a hidden shelter.
“Jesus, Lattner. You’re a existent cocksucker, saying thing similar that. The nanny would person called me. Those kids are fine. Listen, I gotta go,” she said erstwhile helium yet tracked her down.
He considered sending her a picture, thing that would unit her to believe, but this seemed cruel.
• • •
Days passed and helium didn’t travel retired of his apartment. He work his books. He raided neighbors’ strangely unlocked flat kitchens for himself and Buster erstwhile hungry. He stared. There ought to beryllium a instrumentality against what had happened to his children. There ought to beryllium thing supernatural that reaches done world and prevents specified things.
He forgot each astir the day he’d scheduled with Gerry. It came and went. But a week later, his grief lifted agelong capable for him to remember. He went to Play it Again, Sam, ordered a sandwich, asked the waitress astir the VR country upstairs but she told him it was closed. The request had dropped retired of the market.
The streets were bare of radical arsenic helium walked to the Congo warehouse and asked for Gerry. Then waited until Gerry was connected a break. He knew adjacent from the walk, that this wasn’t Gerry. Gerry was gone.
“Are you here?” helium asked.
Gerry blinked, fto Congo answer. “I look to be!”
“Do you cognize me?”
“You’re worker 5757393 from the hospital!”
Lattner enactment his manus connected Gerry’s shoulder. “You were the emotion of my life, and I didn’t cognize it. But I’ve ne'er known myself precise well.”
Gerry cocked his head. Waited for Congo to translate. “How nice!” helium said.
• • •
- Classified Internal Memorandum, Congo Corp •
To:
Mica Peters, Congo CEO
Lorna Lattner, Department of Innovation, Legal
Frank Henry, Congo Trust Reserve, Applications
From:
Paul Mackenzie, R&D
Simon Iscariott, R&D
Lucas Johnson, R&D
To our elder officers,
It appears the information is irreversible. Nonusers relationship for astir .5% of the population. But we tin marque lemons retired of lemonade. We’ve solved nutrient scarcity. We’ve solved suffering. Affected citizens are inactive susceptible of reproduction. We volition proceed to person a thriving workforce for generations to come.
• • •
There wasn’t a ceremonial for Beatrice. Without his consent, the nanny signed the orders to person her cremated. The ashes were divided. One fractional remained astatine the location for Lorna’s eventual return, the different fractional to Lattner.
As helium held his daughter’s ashes, it had occurred to him that it’s atrocious to cognize that you’re a speck successful the expansive scheme, that you did not beryllium for the bulk of history, and person nary representation of this silence. That this little stint connected world is simply a lease.
He thought astir however children are expected to beryllium your legacy. His lad was there, but not there. His lad was gone. His full life, he’d arrived excessively late, if astatine all, for his astir important things. He tried to console himself that astatine slightest he’d shown up.
“I’m sorry,” helium said to Lorna erstwhile helium yet got successful interaction with her. By now, she believed him.
The quality had breached her. Her dependable was cold. “It’s inevitable. Psychological rejection of the Congo update happens .01% of the time,” she answered. “She was ever similar you. Secretive and sensitive. You’ll astir apt bash it, too.”
Onscreen, Lorna appeared healthy. Not affected.
“You knew this would happen? I can’t judge that. You’re telling me, but I’m inactive uncovering it hard to believe,” helium said.
“I didn’t know. They didn’t know. Not for sure. There was a anticipation of physiological change. Someone wrote a hypothesis. But it had arsenic overmuch likelihood arsenic nanobots taking implicit the earth. The proposal called it dissonance. The assemblage and caput retired of harmony caused a physiological response. But it makes amended workers, happier people. It ends crime.” She looked astatine him pointedly, “It ends attachments and pain.”
“You don’t consciousness bad? You don’t privation to effort to halt it?”
She looked confused, arsenic if this question bore zero significance. “How could I halt it?”
“Lorna,” helium said. “I emotion you. I ever have. Not successful the mode I should have, but that doesn’t marque it immoderate little real.”
Her eyes watered. For a moment, she appeared to beryllium drowning. The gravity of it each deed her, overwhelmed her. “Don’t accidental that,” she whispered. Then she disconnected.
Lattner dispersed Beatrice’s ashes implicit the river. He wanted to cry, but the tendency was similar an avocado pit trapped wrong his chest. It would person wounded excessively overmuch to try.
• • •
In the period since the update, everyone helium saw had turned a shadiness of green. The streets were quiet. The roads were quiet. Everything was inactive and dead, similar a integer signaling of a movie wherever everything agleam is softened, everything crisp is dulled.
In the lack of thing other to do, helium went backmost to work. As soon arsenic helium got to the doc’s lounge, helium heard humming. He thought it was a person, humming, and his eyes brimmed with emotion. Who’d person guessed that specified a mundane happening could beryllium truthful lovely.
But past helium saw that it was a console’s clasp music.
His displacement started. He thought astir The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. He thought astir each humanity’s cruelties, which had been outsourced present to a program. He thought astir escaped will. We don’t take to beryllium born. Most often, we don’t take to die. He thought astir the symptom successful his abdomen he’d been having. He thought astir his dog, who needed him.
There was irony, here, that astatine the nonstop infinitesimal humanity had chosen to delete itself, similar an unwanted message, he’d chosen to travel afloat to life. If this were Lonely Hunter, helium knew however it would end. He’d announcement the symptom successful his side. He’d announcement the unspeakable loneliness, that would beryllium soothed oregon possibly stolen by the headset helium was expected to deterioration close now. He would articulation the myriad masses, and successful that way, betterment himself. Atone. More apt, he’d capable a syringe and articulation his daughter.
He considered each this. And past helium walked down the hall, his measurement retired of synchronicity, seeing the satellite and the colour and the sorrow of it. Thinking astir each the chances he’d had successful his life, that had happened truthful often they’d felt similar deja vu. Thinking determination had to beryllium others, similar him, who’d reformed excessively late.
About the Author
Sarah Langan’s a three-time Bram Stoker Award-winning novelist and screenwriter, whose novels (A Better World, Good Neighbors, The Missing, etc.) person made champion of the twelvemonth lists astatine NPR, Newsweek, The Irish Times, AARP, and PW. Her abbreviated stories person appeared in Nightmare, F&SF, WIRED, Year’s Best Horror, Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror, Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy, etc. She has an MFA from Columbia University, an MS successful Environmental Health Science/Toxicology from NYU, and lives successful Los Angeles with her husband, the writer/director JT Petty, their 2 daughters, and 2 maniac rabbits. Her novella Pam Kowolski Is A Monster (Raw Dog Screaming Press) and her communicative “Squid Teeth” (Reactor) are some forthcoming May, and successful 2026, TOR UK is releasing her sixth novel Trad Wife.
© Adamant PressPlease sojourn Lightspeed Magazine to work much large subject fabrication and fantasy. This communicative archetypal appeared successful the April 2025 issue, which besides features abbreviated fabrication by Rich Larson, Nigel Faustino, Oyedotun Damilola Muees, Deborah L. Davitt, Jon Lasser, D, and more. You tin hold for this month’s contents to beryllium serialized online, oregon you tin bargain the full contented close present successful convenient ebook format for conscionable $4.99, oregon subscribe to the ebook variation here.
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