Greenlaw sat down wearily on the couch. Stroma put her arms around him. He flinched, then forced himself to relax.
“What of your puppets, Urb, when you’ve parsed it all?”
“Not puppets. Beloved components, say rather. Were you never grateful and kind to your own cells? Eventually, I believe I’ll withdraw, grant you real free will—almost without limits. Allow you all to forget I even exist. Modify myself so that no trace of me can be detected even on the submolecular level. Be content to dwell beneath the surface of things. Your species, after all, will be a most useful vehicle for meeting others.”
“Others?”
Stroma laughed. “But of course. After all, this is not the only planet in the galaxy.”
Then Stroma turned toward him—
And the Urb gently and sincerely kissed itself.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
“Little Worker” © 1989 The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
“One Night in Television City” © 1990 Universe
“The Boot” © 1990 The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
“Cockfight” © 1990 Journal Wired
“Brain Wars” © 1992 New Worlds
“Afterschool Special” © 1993 Amazing Stories
“Up the Lazy River” © 1993 Science Fiction Age
“Streetlife” © 1993 New Worlds
“McGregor” © 1994 Universe
“Distributed Mind” © 1995 Interzone
“Big Eater” © 1995 Interzone
Copyright © 1996 by Paul Di Filippo
ISBN 978-1-4976-1324-9
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