Science Fiction stories never cease to amaze me I know that sometimes giving more freedom to a writer can be a dangerous thing (insert smiley face here) but in this case, it was a marvelous idea that generated extraordinary fiction. We ended up adjusting the prompt in response to the authors’ interpretations, and we are thrilled with the result. For Avatars Inc, we noticed that writers slightly deviated from the original prompt, which forced us to take a hard look at the overall narrative of the campaign. Writers may veer from the original prompt but that’s okĮstablishing a prompt that is provided to each contributing writer is an important way to design a cohesive theme and an enjoyable experience for the readers, but you also don’t want to creatively hamper the writers or have the prompt be so limiting that you start to see repetition across the stories. What better way to take a break and still connect with others? These connections make me hopeful for what can be. I see many people online posting and engaging with the stories. Some may think this is the wrong time to be reading stories. This anthology is launching in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic and each hour the news seems to be getting worse and worse.
Beyond the excitement of the gadgets, technology and devices, it is the human element that brings us all together. What this tells me is that even in our most dire circumstances, our inclination is to do what we can to help others, no matter where they are or where they come from. I see it again in “ Oannes, From the Flood” by Adrian Tchaikovsky, when people on an archaeological dig are faced with that same dilemma. I see this in Ken Liu’s “ Uma,” when the person behind the maintenance avatar decides to go against protocol and save a family. And they make mistakes but also decisions that help save lives even to their own detriment. Keep in mind that the avatars are controlled by humans. Stories can heal and also bring us closer together, even when we’re miles apartĮven as we are faced with what seem to be insurmountable odds, the human spirit still rises to the occasion. They searched the world, and deep into the solar system, to acquire the chips that contain avatar memories spanning the 21st century. This is Avatar Inc’s 24th successful mission, as part of an overall campaign to physically retrieve, preserve and archive the memory cards from their most valuable robotic avatar units. Within moments, she is flooded with what-seem-to-be “memories” from the life of the avatar.
She holds the chip up to her visual display unit to reveal its contents.
She pops open the cranial casing to find its central processing chip, still intact. While on a mission to Mars in the year 2080, a young astronaut encounters a decommissioned robotic Avatar unit, partially buried in the Martian dust.
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