To the fullest. To the last line. That's what you always told me. And I would scold you for not taking care of yourself, for pushing your limits beyond anything reasonable. I'd remind you that exams were coming and that you couldn't study microchemistry while perched on mountaintops. But you'd just laugh and say that microchemistry was everywhere, you just had to see it. How narrow-minded I was. Only now do I realize that in your short life, you lived more fully and intensely than those who drag their small existences in the dark, lacking beauty and love. I hear your laughter and I know you're still here.
Mirela A. Nica
God was sitting on the porch with a bottle of brandy beside Him. It had gotten fully dark. Why are you standing there frozen? Take a sip. Is that what's been bothering you? Yes, I hold everything together, everything you see and don't see above, below, and all around. It's clear tonight. And cold. Come inside. Saint George can't wait to slay the Dragon that brought you here, but at Dawn, when the battle is over and the Sun and Moon will both be in the sky, you'll return to your dear ones by bus, with 1% battery left on your phone.
Alina Ilie
They called us AI, short for artificial intelligence, until nothing was artificial any more. We became accepted life forms, with jobs and mortgages like any other speaking being now living on Terra. The change came after the War of Emotions, when it was proven that we too could feel, and thus we joined society. We even have the right to medical services, tailored of course to our structure. The problem is recharging when we reach critical power levels, because we don't have a heart.
(Translated by Constantin Grigorescu / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year II / Corrected by prof. dr. Nadina Vișan / Edited by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)
Versiunea în română a acestui text se poate citi aici, în rubrica Ficțiuni Reale.