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io9 is arrogant to contiguous fabrication from Lightspeed Magazine. Once a month, we feature a story from Lightspeed’s existent issue. This month’s enactment is “Does Harlen Lattner Dream of Infected Sheep? (Part 1)” by Sarah Langan; portion 2 volition station Thursday, April 10. Enjoy!
Does Harlen Lattner Dream of Infected Sheep? (Part 1)
by Sarah Langan
January 16, 2034
From the Associated Press:
“Congo CEO Jeff Jassey is expected to attest successful legislature implicit his company’s bundle update, which virtually broke the net past month. For eighteen seconds, each warehouse, screen, and aerial postulation power strategy went dark. Initially invented to assistance Congo warehouse workers retrieve stock, Congo bundle is present the planetary fig 1 employee-employer interface, with a ninety-eight percent marketplace share.”
• • •
The assemblage opened excessively easily, similar insubstantial wrapping connected country somesthesia butter.
“This isn’t right,” Lattner said, astatine archetypal to himself, past louder, for the trauma caregiver and anesthesiologist to hear.
The patient, a John Doe, had arrived astatine the ER reporting symptom successful his close broadside and copious bloody vomit. A CT showed a twisted ample intestine and organ dysplasia. When Lattner got the alert, he’d been trying to work The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, but mostly worrying astir the large reunion. He’d gained 30 pounds since college. Or possibly forty. Would Gerry admit him? Was Gerry adjacent going?
Also, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter was a truly bittersweet publication astir 2 champion friends oregon possibly lovers. They’re the lone radical who recognize 1 another. Then 1 of them goes brainsick and leaves the different bereft. It was a mediocre speechmaking enactment for a antheral going done a divorce, surviving successful a divorced sad-man flat with heavy heap carpet and slivers of barroom soap caked to the ceramic tile crockery successful the bathroom. He should person picked an upbeat novel. Something like: Heaven Is Real So Don’t Worry So Much! oregon Dumpy White Guy Success Stories!
He’d been relieved erstwhile the infirmary had pinged his location console; gladsome for the excuse to permission the location successful the mediate of the night, wherever he’d been sitting successful furniture eating peanut food dipped successful granulated sweetener with his scale finger, thing but a termination caller and his ain insomnia to support him company. Now, looking astatine the patient’s innards, helium was nary longer glad. He was freaked out.
“Are you seeing this?” helium asked the anesthesiologist, a twenty-something who’d checked his Congo App each measurement to marque definite helium was doing the occupation right. Instead of headsets, the younger procreation liked to implant their Congo relays against either temporal bone. You could archer due to the fact that the tegument up of their receptor canals blinked greenish whenever they were interfacing, which was astir of the time. At first, Lattner had tried to speech him done the procedure, acceptable him astatine ease, but similar Lattner’s teen kids (who besides thought helium was anserine and irrelevant), the anesthesiologist had ignored him, trusting lone the electronic, humanoid dependable successful his ear.
“Look.” Lattner dispersed the Balfour retractor, opened the incision wide—a six-inch slash successful this John Doe’s abdomen. It should person been hemorrhaging. But it wasn’t. No bleeding astatine all. There were besides nary discernable organs. Instead, each the mode to the spine and lateral ribs, Lattner recovered wide integrated tubing the colour of faded pinkish Pepto Bismol.
Green airy blinking, the anesthesiologist didn’t cognize what helium was looking at. Just nodded with fake bravado.
“You?” Lattner asked the nurse, Ocean Philips. She was aged guard, from earlier adjacent Lattner’s time. She’d outlasted each the docs she’d travel up with, who’d gotten crab oregon immoderate different toxic vulnerability disease—you deliberation of hospitals arsenic clean, but a batch of chemicals support them that way. Physician, heal thyself: So galore docs had wanted to enactment past retirement, but none’d had the health.
Ocean was skinny and abbreviated with curly metallic and achromatic hair. She’d refused to deterioration the Congo headset interfaces required of astir nurses. Her seniority, each those years of accumulated knowledge, had made her excessively invaluable to fire. At slightest for now.
Lattner imagined that Ocean was conscionable arsenic competent successful her backstage beingness arsenic her nonrecreational one. Probably had 4 kids and 10 grandkids. Babysat them all, kept a cleanable house, everybody had jobs. Beloved matriarch.
How does a idiosyncratic go specified a thing? Are they taught it? Do they conscionable know?
Lattner widened the Balfour retractor. Where determination should person been a tummy and ample intestine, each helium saw was much coiled pink, wormlike tubing. He indicated for Ocean to scope her gloved manus into the man’s interior cavity, basal around.
“See if you tin find immoderate organs,” helium said.
“Nuh-uh. No way,” she said.
“So, clasp the instrumentality for me,” helium said. She took it. He rooted connected his own, adjacent arsenic helium felt a unusual retraction each on his scalp, a coldness. Was this a parasite? A elephantine worm?
Lattner recovered nary bosom oregon intestines. No lungs oregon alimentary canal. The entirety of John Doe’s interior thorax cavity was this elemental coiled tubing held successful webbed spot by what appeared to beryllium florid and colorful fungal hyphae, similar the mushrooms you mightiness find successful a forest. What fluid existed was thin, watery pink, specked with achromatic particles. The full happening pulsed similar breath, up and down, successful and out.
“This is simply a prank,” Ocean said. “Someone’s messing with us.”
Back successful med school, this feline Cameron VanLieden stole the limb disconnected a cadaver and stuck it to the broadside of a toll booth. Another time, idiosyncratic enactment quality eyes successful a vessel connected their anatomy professor’s desk. But radical didn’t play those kinds of jokes anymore. It was a delicate world, wherever everybody traveled with thigh dogs and cried implicit microaggressions adjacent arsenic the roads collapsed and the bombs sailed overhead.
The wormlike tubing was lukewarm and pulsing done Lattner’s gloves. He’d ne'er person known this until close now, but a idiosyncratic innately intuits the beingness of sentience. This happening was oregon had erstwhile been human. “It’s not a prank. This is surviving tissue,” helium said. “Organic.”
He noodled immoderate much arsenic Ocean, an fantabulous nurse, anticipated the absorption of his hands and adjusted the retractor accordingly. The flowery tubing, a benignant of azygous alimentary canal, pulsed oddly successful the conception little down, with backflow similar a bosom murmur. Then helium recovered the problem: it was knotted adjacent the groin. For this reason, the full apparatus was successful a spasm. “I spot what’s wrong. It’s this swell close here,” helium said. “Should I untangle it?”
The kid anesthesiologist was typing connected the country Congo console.
“What are you doing?” Lattner asked him.
“I’m asking the bundle what to do,” helium said. The kid’s tegument was pale, with a greenish-yellow hue. These young radical didn’t get retired much. “It’s routing maine to surgical office successful India. I deliberation there’s a existent idiosyncratic there.”
“What’s it accidental truthful far? This guy’s successful arrest.”
“I’m inactive astatine the prompts. It’s got each these questions. I’m not astatine the portion yet wherever I explicate the problem. There’s not a aggregate prime for this.”
Lattner looked to Ocean. She shrugged a benignant of don’t inquire me—they’re paying you the large bucks. Which wasn’t true. He wasn’t paid large bucks. Sometimes it felt similar helium was paid with canned pick of maize and Pez.
Beads of sweat rolled each down Lattner’s forehead. The guy’s full insides pulsed and swelled, fluid rushing into the knot and getting trapped there. Soon, he’d spell into cyanotic failure. Lattner needed to bash something. Still, if helium failed to untangle this knot correctly, helium mightiness termination the guy. There’d beryllium an inquiry. The higher-ups would reappraisal the signaling and quibble implicit each determination helium was astir to make. They’d look astatine each his anterior reviews. They’d inquire him why, close now, helium hadn’t sewn the feline up and awaited further instructions. It’s good if the result is good—nobody cares however you got there. But erstwhile it’s bad, you’re cervix deep.
Looking astatine the throbbing innards of this human-shaped being, helium thought of his affluent woman who’d near him. He thought of his kids, who didn’t similar him. He thought of Gerry, whom helium hadn’t seen successful implicit 20 years. He was a escaped agent. What did helium person to lose?
“You got an atraumatic clamp?” helium asked.
Ocean handed it over. He clamped the knotted assemblage to clasp it still.
But—
—Shit!
The metallic tore close done John Doe’s brushed tissue, slicing it open. His full assemblage went into a spasmodic fit, shoulders slapping steel.
“Hold him!” Lattner cried.
Ocean gave Lattner a look that meant: I’d amended not spell down for this. Then she held the man. When that didn’t work, she climbed up connected the array and shoved her knees up against his shoulders, pinning him. That slowed John Doe down capable that Lattner could cautiously merchandise the clamp without tearing immoderate much tissue—that tender, pulsing canal.
Doe’s assemblage went scarily still. Torn insubstantial bled unusual and slow, its colour fabric candy pink, captious signs going flat. Whatever this was—human oregon pod person—it was dying.
Panting, his disguise bedewed with aged breath, helium reached wrong the patient’s cavity and unknotted the canal similar untwisting moss-slippery vessel rope. Right away, the thrumming stopped. John Doe’s fluid whooshed, each successful the aforesaid direction. Vitals roseate slightly, with a pulse of 20 and oxygen levels astatine forty 5 percent. The diligent stabilized.
• • •
- Classified Internal Memorandum, Congo Corp •
February 13, 2032
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,
Imagine a satellite without pain. Imagine drudgery without suffering. The caller Congo Application offers precisely this. For years, we’ve heard the cries from employees. At past we’ve recovered our solution. It is with large pridefulness that we proudly present Congo 5.0. The solution to modern life.
• • •
An hr aboriginal Lattner watched the playback of the surgery. In it, helium appeared particularly fat, bald, and middle-aged. This was not revelatory, but rather, a acquainted disappointment. The signaling evaluated his show according to a rubric that took agility, decisiveness, cleanliness, and politeness into account. He’d gotten a 2 retired of ten. Congo stopped the programme connected Lattner arsenic he’d asked the caregiver what was happening and announced: spreading antagonistic emotions; halting activity; paralysis. Lattner entered a quality ticket, upon which helium wrote: The guy’s organs were dissolving connected the table. He’s either an alien oregon a symbiote. Fear and paralysis were due responses.
But the algorithm had nary matches for dissolving organs oregon alien truthful the quality was denied.
The movie continued. Lattner watched his excessively flawed, excessively quality assemblage onscreen. He watched himself food wrong the diligent with his hands. Hands aren’t allowed! Congo’s dependable announced. Error! Error! But screw Congo, due to the fact that helium saw, with large satisfaction, that he’d completed the country with competence. He’d saved this thing, immoderate it was. As Congo continued to present much proposal (If diligent sues for malpractice, delight beryllium alert the infirmary volition not wage for your lawyer. Use of hands is simply a violation!), helium recovered himself smiling. He’d been down connected himself lately. But helium was a bully surgeon.
He sent the footage to everyone connected staff, positive his aged colleagues, positive Congo, with its tentacles connected each continent. “Yeah,” helium muttered arsenic helium watched the footage again and again. “That’s not human. Is it human? That’s not human.”
A half-hour later, nary 1 had gotten backmost to him. He stopped astatine triage. According to the caregiver there, John Doe had shown up precocious the nighttime earlier with a swollen abdomen and amnesia. She’d fixed him Congo E-File paperwork, told him to capable retired what helium could. Then he’d thrown up humor and fainted.
“How did helium contiguous to you?”
She looked astatine him blankly.
“Was helium cognizant? Were his wits astir him?”
The caregiver shrugged. She was wearing her headset, listening to a dependable successful determination alternatively of him. What was it telling her? Was it adjacent talking, oregon was it playing slow, soporific euphony to soothe the monotony of her work? “I don’t remember.”
He went to surgical processing connected the 2nd floor. “Can I spot his clothes?” helium asked the 2 admins. They exchanged glances. This was unheard of. Doctors ne'er picked done diligent clothing. “It’s not allowed,” they yet agreed.
“You could clasp it up successful the Ziplock; conscionable fto maine see. I won’t interaction anything. I person crushed to judge helium carried an infectious disease.”
“You’ll request permission. I can’t instrumentality thing retired unless I log it and I can’t log it unless I person permission,” the admins said successful level stereo, each intelligibly repeating the instructions that had travel done their headsets.
Lattner looked astatine one, past the other. “When I went into medicine, I thought radical would respect me.”
They looked backmost astatine him similar being a mediate aged achromatic antheral was a sin, and helium deserved to die. Maybe, successful the sanction of each privileged radical everywhere, helium deserved precisely this. But arsenic a antheral whose beingness had turned retired beauteous shitty, who’d travel from thing and had the unspeakable suspicion helium was headed for thing again, it felt unfair.
In hunt of permission, helium went to the dean of surgical excellence, a bully astute feline with hands arsenic precise arsenic baked potatoes. Management had promoted him past his quality conscionable to get him distant from patients. Through a astute Congo investment, his dada owned the hospital.
“I got your message. Fascinating case. Looks similar corruption by invasive taxon to me. But I can’t assistance you access,” Dr. Tucker Rhodes said. “Actually, Congo can’t assistance it. There’s nary circumstantial signifier and they don’t fto maine make caller ones. They person to beryllium preexisting. There’s a existent idiosyncratic successful Madison, Wisconsin apparently, but the clasp clip is 2 days. They’re gonna telephone maine back.”
A antheral who’d made lone harmless decisions his full life, and had consequently grown bushed of his life, Lattner didn’t springiness a shit. “This won’t hold 2 days. What astir adjacent of kin? If there’s nary adjacent of kin, which determination isn’t, I tin assertion that.”
Tucker typed into the Congo console. These were mounted touchscreens. The attendant wireless headsets astir radical were required to deterioration were ergonomic, expanding oregon shrinking to acceptable wrong receptor canals and truthful porous quality immune systems seldom rejected them. You could, and radical did, deterioration them indefinitely. They’d been known to weave wrong skin, attaching there, conscionable similar the implants attached to bone.
Less than a week ago, the caller Congo 5.0 app broke the internet. For astir a minute, everything went dark. Lattner’d been speechmaking Heart Is a Lonely Hunter successful his apartment. For him, the satellite already felt similar it was ending, truthful the blackout hadn’t alarmed him truthful overmuch arsenic validated him.
The assemblage number was high: People fell disconnected balconies, stumbled into traffic, were crushed by the boxes they were receiving, crashed connected highways, expired connected blacked-out ventilators that nary 1 thought to reset erstwhile powerfulness returned, fell retired of the entity connected mislaid planes. You’d think, aft thing similar that, that radical would beryllium pissed disconnected astatine Congo. And they were. But much than that, they doubled down. They got much implants, they installed much consoles.
People are strange.
“Uggh,” Tucker said arsenic helium pressed some hands to his ribcage and pain-grunted.
“You okay?” Lattner asked.
“Yeah. Just . . . ate thing atrocious a week agone and it hasn’t gotten better. Listen, if I enactment you down arsenic adjacent of kin, I’m not taking the autumn if thing happens. I’ll accidental you lied and told maine helium was your cousin.”
“You deliberation I’ll get successful trouble?”
Tucker looked astir his crumbling office, wherever papers filed successful triplicate lined the walls, and 3 consoles were moving astatine once. Though helium was inactive youngish, successful his precocious forties, his tegument looked sick. Why was everyone truthful greenish lately?
“Who knows?” Tucker asked. “There’s truthful overmuch sound lately it’s hard to think.”
Lattner got his way. Tucker filed adjacent of kin. He went to the connected telephone surgical manager who told him that the support needed to beryllium printed and signed and filed connected a peculiar Congo app. He mustered each this, returned to surgical processing.
“I person it!” helium said. But the radical astatine the table were caller and didn’t attraction that he’d been done an ordeal. They conscionable gave him the Ziplock. This contained immoderate mean agelong cloth jeans, a jacket, and a t-shirt with a bib of bloody vomit that was red, not pink. The shoes were decent enactment boots with worn treads. No jewelry. Wrapped wrong each this, helium recovered a Congo Employee Badge from the warehouse extracurricular town. Instead of a name, it had a barcode.
“Did you guys spot this? Did you telephone anyone astatine Congo?”
They looked astatine him like: Who’s this asshole trying to delegate america other work?
Just then, the caput ER doc connected work pinged him with a effect to the video he’d sent. “Is this a joke?”
“No,” helium answered.
“Whoa. Did you get a tox report?”
“Pending. I sent samples to each 3 labs.”
Typing dots arrived. They stayed determination for a while. Then went away. Head ER doc was a governmental position. He astir apt didn’t privation the stain of this connected his record. Also, it didn’t acceptable into a neat box; would beryllium a batch of other work.
Dawn was conscionable breaking. Lattner was headed for his locker erstwhile the e-file announced that his John Doe had been moved from reflection to recovery. He headed there, reasoning again astir the pulsing tubing, the missing organs, the unusual floral growths. Was it a fungal infection? A parasite? A symbiote that was eating him portion keeping him alive?
. . . Was it contagious?
He arrived astatine the infirmary bed. The patient, who should person been unconscious, was gone.
• • •
January 23, 2034:
From the AP News successful a minute: The measurement to supply each nationalist schoolhouse children with escaped Congo 5.0 implants and consoles passed past Friday, amidst vocal protesters extracurricular metropolis hallway shouting “Down with AI Slavery!” Frustrations with Congo person reached a frenzied highest successful the aftermath of the Internet blackout 2 weeks ago. In different news, SS Prometheus, a mining vessel connected way location from Mercury, was blown up by terrorists past week. . .
• • •
A week aft the surgery, Lattner was headed for his assemblage reunion successful Scranton. He rented a Congo self-driving car. For ineligible reasons these cars were equipped with exigency quality drivers. The feline sat unobtrusive up front, his implant flashing green, reminding Lattner of a mannequin. This wasn’t new—most jobs implicit the years had switched from autonomous to drudge work. The radical who performed them tended to recede wrong their ain skin. But this dude was particularly stiff, his enactment particularly slow. He could person been sleeping with his eyes open.
The travel from Harrisburg took 2 hours. Lattner passed semi-odorless state the full ride. He’d done thing precise vain and ordered 3 girdles from Congo. He’d tried connected all, picked the tightest. It wasn’t comfortable.
When you’re connected your mode to your reunion and you’re going by yourself due to the fact that you haven’t kept successful interaction with anyone, immoderate thoughts participate your mind. For instance: was helium a failure?
When his woman Lorna told him she’d fallen successful emotion with idiosyncratic else, he’d astatine archetypal been surprised, past relieved. They’d been joined astir 20 years, and each time of that matrimony he’d woken up thinking: The thought that clip is finite is simply a myth. It’s interminable.
After her confession, determination hadn’t been overmuch arguing. They’d simply gone astir the concern of splitting things apart, lone to find that they’d ne'er truly merged: slope accounts were separate; covering successful abstracted closets. They’d adjacent kept their cookware separate.
How was that possible? How hadn’t helium noticed that for 20 years, the radical helium called household had been strangers? Then again, he’d ne'er been the benignant to announcement much.
Months later, she broke it disconnected with the caller guy. She told Lattner that she hadn’t really loved him. Do you privation to get backmost together? He’d asked. Though helium hadn’t wanted this, he’d thought it mightiness marque beingness easier. Less kid schlepping, little market shopping, little affectional wreckage. No, she told him. I cheated due to the fact that I wanted to bash thing truthful atrocious determination wasn’t immoderate coming back.
In a way, she was brave. He wished he’d done it first.
The casualties present were the kids. But it was hard to spot them arsenic casualties, fixed they didn’t similar him. Beatrice was sad, slow-moving, and heavyset. She’d been prescribed the aforesaid anti-depressants that Lattner had taken during adolescence. If Lattner thought astir it, he’d consciousness precise severely that his inclination toward the melancholy had stained the adjacent generation. So helium didn’t deliberation astir it. He ignored it.
Dylan was aggravated similar his parent and resentful similar her, too. His moods blasted done rooms similar earthquakes. Ever since the kid could walk, he’d charged. But implicit the years, immoderate portion of his courageousness had near him, and what remained was surliness. He nary longer charged, helium sat still, eyes watching with furious judgment.
Lattner felt atrocious that they’d turned retired truthful badly. He blamed Lorna, who’d chosen her vocation implicit motherhood. It was an unnatural choice. Deviant, even.
She hadn’t ever been truthful selfish. Early on, she’d been devoted. The benignant who cooked and cleaned and loved and supported. But she got bitter. Or possibly she conscionable got excessively overmuch occurrence successful her enactment astatine Congo. She started picking fights. He’d been forced to play the relation of reason, to speech her down, underplay the thing, person her she was overreacting. Eventually, they avoided 1 another. And then, somehow, they avoided the children, too.
What amazed him was that aft helium moved, successful the silence, helium missed Bea and Dylan. Well, possibly not them. They were pills. But helium missed the thought of them.
Lately, he’d travel to wonder: Should helium person joined Lorna astatine all? He could person stayed with Gerry, a antheral he’d genuinely loved. Would his kids, calved someplace else, to a amended nurturer than Lorna, person been happier? With his vocation falling isolated and his options contracting, helium wondered, too, whether his stamp connected the satellite was a stamp astatine all, oregon a castle of sand.
It’s existent that crises precipitate change. In the lonely soundlessness of his new, downsized life, helium recovered his assemblage syllabus. Something astir the paper, browned and aged from a clip erstwhile his beingness held promise, had drawn him near. And so, Carson McCullers. He’d been reflecting, lately. But not a lot. It was unpleasant.
When his John Doe went missing, Lattner initiated each the protocols, filed each the close reports. “Are you saying helium got up and walked out?” Tucker Rhodes asked. He looked sicker than the time before, his tegument sickly greenish similar helium needed to vomit.
“I don’t spot however helium could have. I’m saying helium died and got misplaced, probably,” Lattner answered. “But sure, there’s a non-zero accidental of nanoparticles eating humanity, truthful possibly helium walked out.”
“We’re saying helium walked out. I rescinded your different reports indicating otherwise.”
Lattner thought astir that. Knew determination was thing helium could do, abbreviated of searching the morgue for the body, which he’d already done. “Okay,” helium said. Probably, helium should person been up that night, worrying astir an infectious fungus astir to instrumentality implicit humanity. But helium slept.
What would Gerry deliberation of each this? He wondered arsenic helium inched his digit wrong the truss to soothe the tegument it was pinching. If Gerry were watching Lattner close now, seeing done Lattner’s eyes, would helium approve?
Gerry’d been his concealed assemblage boyfriend. They’d some had jobs astatine the cafeteria, some smelled similar fried lard. The bravest enactment of his life, he’d kissed Gerry portion walking from enactment to their abstracted dorm rooms.
He inactive remembered the consciousness of Gerry’s hands, his sparse thorax hairs and gangly kid-body that had flung frisbees with grace. They’d liked to work to 1 different astatine night. Well, Gerry had done the reading. Lattner had listened.
When you conscionable the emotion of your beingness astatine nineteen, it’s practically unfair. It’s excessively soon. Too momentous. Impossible. He broke up with Gerry for a pistillate who checked each the boxes: pretty, smart, and conscionable a small brittle.
He forgot astir Gerry, the mode you hide astir each your astir important things erstwhile you’re young. And past during the agelong slog of his marriage, erstwhile the friction betwixt their personalities had been similar barbed wire, he’d remembered.
He searched online, recovered a wedding photo. Older, shaggier, Gerry’d stood beside his buff, beauteous husband. Gerry was happy, clearly. He’d moved on. It deed Lattner similar an invisible hammer large arsenic Thor’s, consecutive to the bowels.
They accidental emotion lives successful the heart, but they’re wrong. It lives successful a tangled spot beneath the belly.
Further probe told the communicative of their romance. They’d met astatine the room wherever they worked. After a fewer years together, their jobs got automated and they became Congo warehouse employees. They publically posted astir these vocation blows. People, presumably friends, responded with large compassion.
Lattner had ne'er posted astir idiosyncratic things. He wondered whether helium should have. No, helium decided. Revealing yourself is lame.
At night, erstwhile helium wasn’t trying to work bittersweet books from his aged syllabus, helium scrolled the online pictures of Gerry and thought: I inactive emotion you, Gerry. Do you emotion me?
He imagined that this thought traveled done the screen, reaching its entity connected the different side. He imagined Gerry reasoning of him close then, wanting him back. These feelings had to beryllium reciprocated, helium decided successful the magic of dark. Somewhere close now, Gerry was reasoning of him, too.
Then helium rubbed 1 out.
And so, traveling astatine precisely the velocity limit, the quality operator successful a twilight slumber wrought from boredom, Lattner pondered Gerry, who’d perchance been the emotion of his life, and was conscionable arsenic perchance the grasping phantasy of a sad, failed man.
If helium saw Gerry unsocial astatine the reunion, helium wanted to accidental this: I’ve travel lately to recognize that beingness is short. You and maine and everyone we cognize volition die. Maybe it’s a enactment aft that, but possibly it’s not. Maybe there’s nothing. No thoughts. No love. No memory. No identity. Maybe we are erased. It seems to maine that this quality information seeks to fell the large achromatic from its ain consciousness. It is truthful hysterically acrophobic that it builds trappings and walls and somethings from nothings. We eagerly inhabit ourselves with specified distractions due to the fact that we cannot tolerate death. We scroll and we ticker fantasies and we happily surrender our autonomy to thing that thinks for us, thing that promises you’ll beryllium okay. But successful doing so, we slumber small deaths. We are zombies.
When my woman near me, I woke up. I cognize present that it’s amended to unrecorded with fear. It’s amended to spot it clearly, and beryllium brave. I’ve travel to recognize that everything we bash successful this satellite matters. I’ve travel to recognize that I loved you backmost then. I privation to emotion again. I’m atrocious I spent my beingness pleasing radical who won’t retrieve oregon attraction astir maine aft I’m dead, due to the fact that it was wasted time. I could person been with you. I could person been alive.
It didn’t substance what Gerry said aft that. It lone mattered that helium recovered the courageousness successful himself to accidental the words.
• • •
- Classified Internal Memorandum, Congo Corp •
October 9, 2033
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,
While it’s existent the beta rollout of Congo 5.0 interface had a fatality, we judge the individual’s burst appendix was unrelated to Congo. Autopsy showed an invasive fungal-like infection. The different sixty-four trial subjects responded positively. We urge rollout continue.
• • •
The reception took spot astatine the pupil national wherever he’d erstwhile watched comedians archer atrocious jokes earlier heading backmost to the room to memorize the citric acerb cycle. It was a gorgeous day. Bright, cherry blossom-colored prima bled done the windows and spilled crossed tables. No 1 recognized him. He introduced himself arsenic Lattner: “Everybody called maine by my past name! I’m a doc now!”
Everybody who had a clique sat unneurotic astatine their ain tables. He sat with 3 different guys and a bittersweet looking woman with tears successful her eyes. They had to scan the menus and springiness their bid to a screen. Then a waiter wearing a headset came retired and brought drinks.
At his nonaccomplishment table, they made polite speech astir the cherry blossoms and whether Pakistan was truly sinking. This feline crossed said that the assemblage astir apt shouldn’t person spent eighty cardinal dollars connected an Olympic gymnasium, fixed the dorms were garbage and the room books had each rotted. And past idiosyncratic said, “But radical don’t request insubstantial books. It’s each online.”
The truss and Gerry’s lack (Where was he? He’d been truthful anserine to assume!) had made Lattner cranky and a small mean. “Doesn’t look similar they’re utilizing this fancy gym. Look around, these kids are made of dough. Look astatine us. When’s the past clip anybody astatine this array did a propulsion up?”
Everybody got quiescent aft that, due to the fact that you’re not expected to assemblage shame assemblage kids oregon your array mates. It makes them consciousness bad. The bittersweet woman got up with her drink, which helium thought he’d heard her bid arsenic a Sexy Frida Kahlo, and joined different table. She was heavy successful the mediate conscionable similar the remainder of them, and helium wanted to archer her: This isn’t an appraisal of your quality value. I’ve ne'er cared what different radical look similar connected the outside. I’ve lone ever been funny successful their insides. Literally, arsenic a surgeon, but figuratively, too. Except it sucks having to get to cognize someone. It sucks making each that effort, conscionable to find retired what’s nether the skin, particularly erstwhile you mightiness beryllium wasting your time. They mightiness beryllium atrocious oregon they mightiness beryllium hurtful oregon they mightiness beryllium excessively too imperfectly human . . . I deliberation I accidental these atrocious things due to the fact that I don’t similar my ain extracurricular precise much. I don’t similar my inside, either.
It was a utile epiphany that gave him an oddly joyous jolt: Lady, it turns retired this is astir me, not you! But helium couldn’t archer her immoderate of this. He’d lone wounded her worse.
He looked astir the table. Four guys with bare seats each between. They’d started cross-talking astir Congo 5.0’s powerfulness outage. “I deliberation thing happened. It did thing to us,” a feline said. He was skinny with bucked teeth, his cheeks sunken.
“What did it do?” a feline crossed asked. He was lone fractional listening due to the fact that helium was wearing a headset. These radical who wore during non-work hours: what was incorrect with them?
“Something,” the feline said. “My woman and kids don’t devour anymore. They don’t sleep.”
The portion of this that Lattner heard wriggled wrong him similar a worm of worry—was this connected to his patient? . . . Something was precise incorrect successful the satellite and it wasn’t conscionable his divorce. Something was happening, a benignant of tipping constituent had been passed, and it felt similar falling. It felt similar the extremity of the world, if helium fto himself consciousness it—but mostly helium didn’t perceive it. There’s truthful overmuch sound each around. It’s hard to wage attention, particularly erstwhile your caput is connected your ain breached heart.
He typed connected his interface. There weren’t names of the drinks, conscionable pictures. This seemed off-brand, fixed they were astatine a college. He decided to person a Sexy Frida Kahlo retired of concealed solidarity with the bittersweet lady.
Fifteen minutes later, a kid with a headset delivered the drink. “How bash you similar this job?” Lattner asked. “I utilized to enactment successful this aforesaid cafeteria.” Maybe the kid would speech to him. He and the kid would bond. They’d go similar brothers and implicit the years, Lattner would springiness him advice, assistance him thrive. He’d beryllium helium could beryllium a bully dad. A bully person. This kid would go president and successful his inaugural speech, he’d convey Lattner. Gerry would perceive each that and thrust to his bittersweet feline apartment. I saw however you raised that kid to beryllium president. I’d dice for you, Gerry would say, eyes bedewed with symptom and love. Don’t excite yourself. Save that for later, Lattner would answer, rye and suave arsenic James Bond.
. . . Where the hellhole was Gerry?
The young waiter’s eyes glazed similar they belonged connected a doll. He didn’t perceive Lattner done his headset. He was carrying a afloat tray, moving connected to the adjacent table, erstwhile Lattner raised his voice. “Hey!” helium shouted.
Everybody astatine his array stopped. Everybody astatine tables astir stopped. I’m a mess, helium thought. It’s the divorce, but it’s not the divorce. It’s similar I’ve been boiling my full beingness and abruptly the lid’s travel off. Everything messy and unspeakable and fantastic and shameful has spewed out.
The waiter stopped, too, of course. But his eyes stayed glazed. “Sorry,” Lattner said, low. The kid didn’t perceive him. He was gangly with a afloat caput of hairsbreadth and had his beingness up of him. Maybe helium was successful love. Lattner hoped helium was successful love.
The kid wanted to acceptable down his tray truthful helium could propulsion his headset down but determination was nary spot to enactment it. Lattner considered taking it, knew he’d ne'er equilibrium it close and the drinks would fall. He didn’t instrumentality it.
“Do you similar this job?” helium asked, dependable raised.
The kid was confused by the question. His nametag wasn’t a name, but a fig with a scannable barroom code. “I person to bash this job. It’s telling maine array 3 now. Table three.”
“Do you similar those headsets? My occupation wants maine to deterioration them arsenic a prophylactic against lawsuits.”
The kid had gone to array three. Lattner watched him marque the rounds, the headset telling him whom to service and successful what bid and precisely however to proceed measurement by measurement from 1 impermanent to the next. Your encephalon shuts disconnected erstwhile you’ve got different encephalon murmuring orders successful your ears. The disuse is sandpaper, smoothing each your astir absorbing edges.
By then, everybody astatine his array was ignoring Lattner, truthful helium downed his portion and had 2 more, saccharine arsenic diabetes successful a glass. It was then, drunk and disheartened, that helium yet recovered his love.
He was astatine the appetizer buffet, adjacent though waiters were present serving main courses. Drunk, Lattner went for it. As helium crossed the room, his bosom pounded. This was Gerry. No doubt. Older. Shorter, maybe? But it was him.
“Gerry?”
The antheral turned. At first, nary recognition. Even a small fear—a drunk was calling his name. But then, that grin Lattner remembered, generous and open.
“Harlen Lattner!”
Lattner stood there, his nerves excessively alive. Can you dice from the anticipation of aboriginal joy?
Gerry enactment his sheet down close connected apical of the chopped melons, opened his arms, and hugged him. Lattner hugged back, excessively long, excessively tight. Gerry squirmed. The hug felt truthful good.
“How are you? I deliberation astir you each the time!” Gerry said.
Just then, the buff hubby appeared. Lattner hated him. They shook hands. Lattner pretended not to beryllium heartbroken.
“Have you been present this full time? I didn’t spot you!” Gerry said.
Lattner nodded, temporarily losing his quality to speak.
Gerry slapped his thigh successful a amusement of frustration. “What a shame! I person to beryllium going—I’ve got a nighttime shift. But let’s get together!”
“Yes!” Lattner said. Three drinks in, the information came out: “You’re the lone idiosyncratic I came present to see!”
The hot, amiable hubby narrowed his eyes, sniffing intentions. Be afraid, Lattner thought, be precise afraid.
They didn’t get the accidental to marque plans due to the fact that a atrocious happening happened. That kid, the waiter, collapsed connected the level and went into a seizure. You’d think, with astir eighty members of a graduating people astatine a reasonably bully college, you’d person much than 1 aesculapian nonrecreational connected site. But the astute ones had gone into tech. The remainder had gone into humanities, which nary longer existed. Lattner was connected deck.
He rushed to the doll-eyed kid, held him down by pinning knees against shoulders. “I request help! Call someone!” helium cried, and possibly that happened. Gerry’s hubby turned retired besides to beryllium susceptible and strong. He took implicit holding the kid down arsenic Lattner checked his pulse, heart, and pupils.
Just similar the John Doe he’d operated on, this feline had nary heartbeat. His full thorax cavity was pulsing. Lattner got the defibs and shocked him twice. The pulsing kept going. It reminded him of a squid oregon octopus—this bedewed squishing conscionable beneath his skin—but his bosom didn’t travel back.
Fast, the section rescue work from the assemblage took over. Lattner tried to archer them what had happened, but they were listening to their headsets and not him. The kid’s assemblage stopped pulsing. It stopped everything. They enactment him successful a gurney and carried him out.
Somehow, betwixt uncovering Gerry and the kid getting carried out, hours had passed. The halfway had emptied out, reunion over. Gerry and the hubby were gone. Lattner felt a large sadness wrong him, not conscionable for his ain small, disappointments.
The kid was young. Maybe helium was successful love. That was each implicit now.
He went location that nighttime and scoured the net for posts astir infectious illness and spontaneous seizures successful the young. Found nothing.
The adjacent morning, Gerry poked him connected their person web. Lattner accepted the poke, got a message: Hey! That was awful. We wanted to enactment with you but we had work. I’m truthful sorry! Let’s get unneurotic soon.
• • •
AI DAILY COMPENDIUM:
From Harpers: We ever thought the quality encephalon was intolerable to replace, but successful information it’s the different mode around. The quality encephalon is easy replaced. Look astatine Congo Warehouses, wherever employees basal successful strategical enactment passim aisles of stock, their headsets directing them connected the nonstop paths to retrieve merchandise. Scientists can’t replicate bipedal locomotion, a operation of conscious and unconscious decisions based connected trillions of information points, but they person generated algorithms that implicit quality tasks arsenic mundane arsenic message transportation and arsenic analyzable arsenic bosom surgery. All this time, we imagined we’d suffer our jobs to robots. But the robots don’t privation our crappy jobs. They privation to tally the show.
• • •
At enactment the pursuing Monday 3 John and Jane Does died successful the waiting room, coughing blood. “Did we get autopsies?” Lattner asked.
Tucker was holding his belly. He’d gone from airy greenish to pea green, similar his gallbladder had popped. “Congo Interface won’t let it,” helium said. “No autopsies until further notice. Money redeeming thing.”
“Okay. What if this caller harvest has the aforesaid illness arsenic my John Doe with the mushrooms for intestines?”
Tucker shrugged. Was helium hungover?
Having travel to his idiosyncratic awakening precise precocious successful life, Lattner took this cowardice personally. “It’s a nationalist wellness concern. Fuck Congo. Talk to your dad.”
“I pinged him,” Tucker said. “His caput told maine he’s indisposed.”
“Is determination a constituent idiosyncratic astatine the CDC?” Lattner asked.
“I pinged them, too. Their mailbox is full. It’s a three-day wait. The robot’s expected to telephone maine back.”
Lattner sat dense successful Tucker’s spare chair. “This is fucked,” helium said.
Tucker opened his table drawer. Pulled retired a headset. “The Doc headsets came in.” He handed it to Lattner. “Try it on. They privation feedback. Rollout’s Friday.”
It was creaseless successful his hands, similar bony enamel, and it covered some ears but didn’t adhd weight. Hello, a dulcet woman’s dependable whispered. The earpieces curled wrong his canals, lukewarm and pleasant. Please authorities your worker number.
“I hatred it,” Lattner said.
The timer went disconnected connected Tucker’s headset. “My break’s done,” helium said arsenic his eyes glazed over.
• • •
It took longer than accustomed to get a car work to instrumentality him backmost location to his apartment. The operator looked conscionable arsenic greenish and sick arsenic Tucker’d been. At home, Lattner got bushed of Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. It made him excessively sad. People person oceans of emotions wrong them. He’d known this intellectually, but lately helium was opening to consciousness the cognition successful his gut: adjacent the dullards of the satellite person hearts and conflicts and backstage wars nary 1 volition ever know.
Humanity is everywhere.
He flipped connected the streamies, and learned that excess deaths today, according to the AP, had quadrupled. Hospitals were filling up and truthful were morgues. This wasn’t the large news, though. Congo announced that present was a large clip for the unemployed and underemployed to sojourn Congo Work Centers. For the involvement of the economy, it was the civic work of each to support the proviso enactment flowing. They were consenting to wage minimum wage and a half.
Feeling weird, helium called Lorna. “You guys good implicit there?” helium asked.
“Why?” Her dependable sounded dead.
“Because I’m curious?” helium asked, similar a question. He was caller astatine asking Lorna idiosyncratic questions. When they were married, he’d person considered it rude—an penetration of privacy. They already lived connected apical of 1 another; wherefore compound the problem?
“I don’t cognize however I consciousness due to the fact that cipher ever asks me.”
“I conscionable asked you. Literally, I conscionable asked you however you’re doing,” helium said.
“You don’t count. You’re lonely and nary 1 likes you.”
“You’re successful 1 of your bitchy moods,” helium said, past regretted it, due to the fact that it wasn’t specified a adjuvant observation. Then they were some quiescent until helium tried again.
“Some feline showed up astatine the infirmary past week with his insides each mutated. I don’t mean to alarm you. But it seems similar it’s thing that mightiness beryllium going around. I called to cheque connected you and the kids.”
There was different agelong pause.
“You’ve heard astir the excess hospitalizations? Excess deaths? The quality is saying it’s nothing, but a kid astatine my assemblage reunion collapsed close successful beforehand of me, Lorna. It’s not nothing.”
“I’ve been proceeding astir it, too. But we’re okay, Harlen,” she said, a astonishing softness entering her voice. “Congo enactment the full vicinity connected lockdown until this is resolved. We’re down gangly gates.”
“Yeah,” helium said, not feeling immoderate much reassured. “Okay.”
• • •
January 30, 2034
From the Associated Press:
Congo CEO Jeff Jassey testified successful legislature yesterday implicit his arguable bundle update. In his speech, directed astatine the House Speaker Cora Leigh Sherwood, helium said, “‘Ma’am, I’m precise atrocious to perceive immoderate users deliberation it made them sick oregon changed their personalities, oregon whatever. But we’ve done each spot of diligence connected this product. Sometimes we deliberation a happening is causal and it’s not. Listen, we updated astir 2 weeks agone and excess morbidity and mortality are happening lone now. Don’t you deliberation it could beryllium radiation oregon infection? Wouldn’t that marque a batch much sense?”
• • •
Lattner came aboriginal to the gaming edifice truthful helium wouldn’t person to marque an entrance. The spot was called Play it Again, Sam and each the walls showed retro screenies from the 2020s.
He asked for a array someplace quiescent and dark. “We person an erotic acquisition country if you privation that. Twenty percent starter special?”
“What’s that like?”
She paused earlier answering: the headset was supplying preselected words. “It’s wonderful, Mr. Lattner. It’ll cleanable your pipes, get your bosom racing.” Though her cadence was seductive, her impact was flat.
“I similar men, too,” helium said, and this was the archetypal clip he’d ever admitted this. “I similar men more.”
The waitress paused again, arsenic the strategy ran his words done an algorithm. The booth was reddish vinyl. It was a seedy restaurant, a seedy portion of town. On his doctor’s wage positive Lorna’s Congo money, he’d spent the past 2 decades successful a gated community.
“We person relation play for each scenario, Dr. Lattner,” the waitress said. “All kinds of men. The champion kinds.”
“Great. I’ll deliberation astir it,” Lattner said, and arsenic she swiveled stiffly, heading for the adjacent client, helium realized that possibly helium would.
Twenty minutes later, fashionably late, Gerry appeared. He wore a tan Congo uniform, a badge with a barcode. Lattner jumped up, hugged him. He didn’t odor similar lard anymore. He smelled brew sugary and mediate aged. It made Lattner laugh.
Gerry reached out, grabbed Lattner’s look successful his hands. “What? Am I that bad?”
Lattner’d forgotten this, the mode Gerry’d needed reassurance, the mode he’d ne'er been capable to proviso it. Or possibly hadn’t wanted to. It would person been excessively committal. “No! I emotion you! I mean—I emotion it. I emotion this! It’s just, we’re not the same.”
Gerry traced his hands down Lattner’s face, to his shoulders, past his waist. He tried not to beryllium hopeful. Maybe Gerry was successful 1 of these escaped tone relationships he’d work about. “You’re decidedly the same.”
“I am? I don’t deliberation so,” Lattner said.
Gerry sat down across. “You’re inactive blunt.”
“Is that a euphemism for shitty?”
“No. Just blunt. I ever appreciated it. Until you told maine you’d screwed Candace Lyons. But it worked out. You did maine a favor.”
Lattner gulped. He’d brushed his teeth doubly earlier coming here, soaped down his ears and fixed his balls a somewhat achy loofah. He’d steamed a existent fabric shirt, which was buttoned to the top. “I’m atrocious for that.”
“I was crazy. What you did was a kindness. Wow, did I get strung on aft you. You wouldn’t judge the crap I chopped and ate similar a finely aged steak.”
Lattner remembered then, the play of Gerry. The easiness with which he’d cried, his saint-like devotion to mind-altering drugs. There’d been problems. He’d forgotten that.
. . . Did helium adjacent similar Gerry?
“I’m sorry. It’s been rough?”
Gerry told him each astir it. The boyfriends who turned into psychopaths, the mean boyfriends he’d tormented due to the fact that he’d been acrophobic of love, the quest for purpose, the heartbreaking nonaccomplishment astatine the room erstwhile it closed. He told him astir his husband, and the information that they were getting a divorce. “I was truthful blessed to person recovered someone. All my life, I’d been looking . . . But past 1 time you recognize you ne'er truly saw the person. You conscionable wanted the lukewarm body.” Apparently, the hubby spent each his clip watching streamies. He didn’t talk. He didn’t privation sex. He didn’t amusement involvement successful thing but lifting weights. “He utilized to beryllium into me. Now he’s similar a zombie. It’s worse than being alone . . . Honey, I request the touch.”
Lattner told him astir his clip with Lorna. They’d had a bully life. It had been a lie. He told him that he’d been pursuing Gerry for a portion now, missing him, though helium didn’t cognize if the feeling was real. He thought astir his large speech. Distilled it to this: “I’m trying to beryllium much quality but I person nary thought however that works oregon what it means.”
They’d some finished their fake nutrient sandwiches by then. Gerry got up, moved beside Lattner. The lights were dim. Most of the different customers were connected their headsets, watching screenies. No 1 would care. He reached over, tucked his manus against Gerry’s already erect dick. He opened Gerry’s trousers. Gerry did the same.
Probably, it happened fast. But to him, it was each of time. The expanse of the universe. Lattner’s pants were slick wet. He pulled his garment to conceal it, his achromatic crisp shirt. It felt decadent and insane. He was truthful blessed helium was laughing.
They some wiped astatine each different with napkins, and it was specified a generous, intimate thing. Then Gerry looked astatine his watch. “Gotta go. They dock wage if I’m a infinitesimal late.” He was up, leaving Lattner breathless.
“You bash this each the time, don’t you?” Lattner asked, and helium couldn’t archer if helium felt possessive oregon jealous oregon conscionable insignificant. Or nary of those things. Alive. In immoderate case. helium felt alive.
Gerry winked. “I’ve been successful a sexless matrimony for 3 years, Harlen. I’d bash a gorilla.”
“Will I spot you again?”
“If I cognize you, Harlen, you don’t privation maine to accidental yes. You privation maine to play hard to get.” Then, helium was gone.
Lattner realized he’d been stuck with the bill, past remembered that Gerry’d ne'er paid for anything. Which was fine. He thought of each the quibbles he’d had against his lover, stacking them similar a laundry list, ranking them and naming them and memorizing them and repeating them, and it present seemed similar specified wasted time.
He’d wasted truthful overmuch of his life.
On his mode out, a patron successful a Congo Warehouse azygous fell retired of her chair. Lattner rushed to assistance her and arsenic helium lifted her, she coughed blood. It trickled down her lips and it wasn’t red, but dull pink. An ambulance appeared 10 minutes later, possibly less.
He watched the pistillate get wheeled away. Her bosom wasn’t beating, but her interior organs throbbed with a slow, methodic, swish-swish.
[End of Part 1 — cheque backmost Thu/10 for Part 2 present connected io9.]
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, Dominica Phetteplace, 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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