Neo-opsis #13

The first offering of Neo-opsis #13 is “Proxy Servers” by L. Arceneaux. In this single-scene story, James, owner of the company Infinite, has an old friend of his, Lee, brought to his office. Lee is risking prison time for his Internet posts, but James has invented a new program that will make it impossible for surfers to be detected on the Internet. While old friends, both men are in contention with each other. This is more of an idea story than a character-driven one. Readers interested in this aspect of Internet technology might enjoy it, but I found little to care about, as it was a mere exchange of dialogue between two characters I didn’t feel much for. There is a twist at the end, but it wasn’t enough to move me.

William Mitchell’s “Junk Wars” is an outlandish, humorous story concerning the junk mail inundating Jay Avery’s mailbox. He’s so sick of it, he tells his wife that if it continues, they’re moving to Antarctica. An inventor, Jay fabricates a special postcard that he mails to himself each day that will shred his junk mail. Of course, this is an SF story, so the impossible happens as the postcards mutate, become sentient, and take over the world. A good helping of suspension of disbelief is required to enjoy “Junk Wars,” but nevertheless, I did.

Joe Murphy’s “The Widower’s Fairy” is a touching story about a man who lost his wife, Emma, to cancer and is now constructing a mechanical fairy to fill the void in his life. His new project is a tribute to his wife, as she always believed in magic while he doesn’t. When Emma’s siblings arrive for the funeral, her younger sister, Christina—who bears an uncanny resemblance to his wife—haunts him. This is more of a mainstream story with the minor speculative elements greatly downplayed, but it’s charming nonetheless. I came away from it feeling that the real magic in this world isn’t the fairy-tale kind but of life, loss, and love.

The best story in this issue is “Sirens” by Leslie Brown. In the far future, Vivian is a Siren, part of a triad of her reef (“reef,” as in Homer’s The Odyssey, from where the sirens lured Ulysses and his sailors) who divert the enemy Cicadas with their voices out of Otherspace to smash into a deep-space minefield. They sing, like in the epic tale, though with cerebral hardware to broadcast their song. Vivian is an alcoholic who feels guilty about being the only survivor of her last reef; she was intoxicated, and the alcohol saved her life but not her teammates. Now aboard a new space station commanded by her ex-husband, Vivian and her new teenage teammate find that the third member of their reef has died, and they must overcome impossible odds to lure the Cicadas into the minefield.

This is a powerful story with all the human dynamics that make a compelling tale. Toward the end, I was thinking that the conclusion would be a rabbit pulled conveniently from the writer’s hat, but the outcome made perfect sense. Recommended.

“The Game of War” by Jessica E. Kaiser is a humorous flash piece of marital unbliss. For months, Dave has been ignoring Janise, favoring his computer as he combats enemy alien ships on the screen. Janise is fed up but doesn’t know what to do until there is a ring at the door—it’s an alien from one of the ships Dave is fighting. Can’t tell you any more, but there’s a prophylactic or two involved. Funny.

“Terror Delectable” by Bhaskar Dutt entails the exploits of rakshasa Vishamrit, a shape-shifter who travels through the veil from the gray world to the vivid one. Vishamrit feeds on terror, and after taking a victim, he assumes the shape of a young boy. He then travels with the headman to the capital city to seek help from the fearless warrior known as Maharaj to kill the menace. There the shape-shifter plans to feed on the terror of the fearless warrior, knowing it will be a challenge and a delectable treat. Dutt captures the feel of this alien world well, and while the ending wasn’t that clever or a surprise, this is a well-crafted story.