“The Star Where We Meet” by Sam W. Pisciotta [3435 words]
The digitized consciousness of a formerly living man sent 125 light years away on a “quantum chip” to convene with an alien intelligence meets in person a digitized representation of the son he only had in the digitized dreamworld during his trip, where he made different choices from the ones he made in his real life.
A clever idea, but for me it was not as emotionally engaging as the author wants it to be. I think the two characters spend too much time just trying to hash out if their relationship was real and meaningful to convince me that it was.
“The Aerialist” by Yoon Ha Lee [1144 words]
Kallista, the aerialist of the title, has been barred from flight. She steals a faerie typewriter from the Museum of Curioddities (heh), hoping to fence it and buy back her commission. When she’s discovered by a guard, the typewriter offers her a novel (pun intended) solution for escape.
A really fun, if slight, little story, buoyed by the author’s trademark idiosyncrasies and taut compositions.
Item 202 