Publishing Data
Originally published in Asimov's Science Fiction, April 1994
Collected in Science Fiction, Stories and Contexts, ed. Heather Masri |
| Preview |
| Diyet, 26, has been indentured both legally and emotionally for five years to a restaurant owner. Then an AI, a male biological construct, joins the household. |
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| Background |
| This story was later expanded into a novel, Nekroplis (1994) |
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| Navigation Guide |
| What does it mean to be jessed? Why did Diyet allow herself to be jessed? |
| What is a harni? |
| What is the Nekropolis? What does it represent? |
| Why does Akhmim pay so much attention to Diyet? Why does she initially reject him? |
| Why do Diyet's feelings about Akhmim change? How does her relationship with Akhmim change her? |
| How does Akhmim feel about Diyet? How is it even possible that he has feelings? |
| How has Fhassin's affair with Shusilina affected Diyet? |
| What do the paper flowers represent? Why won't Diyet make birds? |
| Explain the last line of the story: "'It hurts to be born.'" |
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