“The sponsors want this kept quiet,” Marlow said. He stepped carefully around the massive slick of blood, perusing the walls and taking down notes of God-knew-what.

“Of course they do,” Jenkins said.

So I got my official shapeshifting license today.

One foot in front of the other foot.

One foot in front of the other foot.

When I was growing up, if you had told me I was going to be an “AI wrangler” as an adult, I would've thought that was the coolest thing ever. Artificial intelligence? Robots? Sign me up!

There's nothing like the truth of adulthood to shatter a kid's dreams.

“So how many years is it now?” Karen asked.

“Five hundred sixty-eight,” I replied. “As of yesterday.”

Ion nymphs. How did they get all the way out here? We were light years from the closest star of any sort. There weren't any active nebulae that I was aware of. Nothing charted, anyway. Dark matter cluster, maybe?

One by one, the lights go out, as I look on. I can see all the last ones from here. I used to have to travel far and wide to visit the stars.

“God, I'm exhausted,” Henry said as he slunk through the doorway.

“It's nearly noon, Playboy,” Winny said. “You still nursing that hangover?” She was already strapped into her rig and going through the warm-ups.

Pain replaced with nausea, now. Not a fair trade, in my opinion. I'm not sure which is more disabling. Of course, when you're dangling by one hand off a rope bridge, the question is rather academic.

“So I understand some congratulations are in order,” Dr. Williams said.

So I found out today that I'm immortal.

This would have been impressive say, a decade ago, before the phenomenon had become so widely known.

“That's the last of it,” John said. He clicked the mouse and watched the bank's confirmation screen load.

“Of what?” Carter asked. “The bills? The money?”

My heart is pounding. It won't stop.

Richard walked nonchalantly into the room. “I've been thinking,” he said. “What would you do if you won ten million dollars?”

“And this is why God invented hacksaws,” I said.

“Really?” Jonie asked. “For this exact situation?”

“So,” Holly said. “We live in a floating castle.”

“Yes,” Fred replied.

Perry hung his head and let his hands drop to the table. “Let's just let it burn,” he said.

I stare into the void and look for a spark. Any light at all.