Stina Leicht

Themselves. Death. The void. That which is strange to them—

“I didn’t mean on a philosophical level,” Paulie whispered, rolling her eyes.

I used to care.

This city wears upon one’s soul like a steel file on soapstone.

Rosie asked, “And how exactly did he—significant pause—leave?”

Angel looked away. “The same way he arrived. Through my bedroom window.”

Angel asked, “Then how is it he’s an ex?”

A sly expression passed over Lou’s wholesome face. “Because sneaking around is sexy.”

“Seriously?” Enid asked. “Why would you put each other through that?”

“We like sex games,” Lou said. “Cop and criminal. Horse and rider. You know

I worry for you, that is all. You must stop reliving the past

During graduate school, Gita had volunteered twice to pair with sentient artificial intelligences. The process of partnering involved the surgical installation of an electronic storage unit inside a human brain. Once the human volunteer healed, a newly formed digital entity
was downloaded onto the device and activated. In this way, the artificial entity developed much like a human child would. They observed human social interactions and developed their own personality. Gita equated it with pregnancy—only instead of months, digital gestation took years. And like pregnancy, partnering could be dangerous to the human party. Still, when it came to learning how to navigate safely with humans in the physical world, partnering was the fastest, most accurate method.

Every problem has a solution. Be creative