FUTURES

Sting
“Quiet down,” one of the robots said. Its rubbery gripper closed over his
hand. Its skin squeaked. Its face made a sad blue emoticon. “We can’t help
you if you keep thrashing around like that.”
The bees hissed. Icy froth spread across his wound. The pulsing died.
Perhaps this was dying, too. It felt as merciful as death. His mother looked
at the cloud of vapour rising from his wound, sniffed, and shuffled away. He
blinked. She was gone. She had been gone two years, now. He had picked
out that terrible pink tweed for her at the funeral parlour because he knew
she had hated it.
“I’m really sick, aren’t I?” he asked.
“Yes,” one of the robots said. Gregor recognised his physician’s voice.
“But we’re doing our best. If you keep fighting, we will, too. Can you do
that?”
Panting, he nodded. And then, finally, there was rest.
Madeline Ashby is a science fiction writer and futurist living in Toronto.
She has worked with organizations like Intel Labs, the Institute for the
Future, SciFutures, Data & Society, and others. She is a columnist with
the Ottawa Citizen, and the author of the Machine Dynasty series from
Angry Robot Books. Her novel Company Town will be available next
winter from Tor Books. You can find her atwww.madelineashby.com
or on Twitter @MadelineAshby.
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