Life In the Future — Part Four
By Alex Shvartsman
Yuriko was a biomathematics student, a year Peter’s junior and far more levelheaded than him in most situations. She listened to his story and skimmed some of the article scans he forwarded to her while on the phone.
“Occam’s razor,” she said. “You’ve never heard of this magazine before. How do you know it’s real? Maybe someone created it last month and uploaded the so-called back issues as part of an elaborate prank or a scam?”
“Who’d want to scam me?” said Peter. “It’s a terrible business venture. They’d go broke just by accessing my destitute bank account.”
“Maybe it’s another job applicant, messing with your head,” said Yuriko.
“But, how? They couldn’t know I’d walk into that book store. I didn’t even know myself.”
“It’s a more realistic scenario than the ones you’re considering,” said Yuriko. “I know you like reading the pulps, but you’ve had no trouble telling fiction from reality so far.”
“So far,” Peter repeated. His fingers caressed the magazine cover. It was old; he’d handled enough vintage paperbacks and magazines printed on low quality paper to be certain.
“I can tell you’re not ready to climb out of this particular rabbit hole,” said Yuriko. “So let me make you a deal. You know my uncle Riku? Goes by Ricky? He used to work as a private investigator. I’ll ask him to see if he can find anything about this columnist, but only if you promise to leave the matter alone until after your interview, and go to bed.”
It was a good plan, and Peter had exhausted his own resources anyhow, so he agreed. But try as he might, he couldn’t sleep anyway. The possibilities swirled in his mind. He planned on how he might convince Lippert to write more stories about the life of Peter Wilson. Should he ask Lippert to have his character become a billionaire? Win a Nobel? Marry a celebrity? Peter felt a pang of shame at that idea. The person he really wanted to marry was Yuriko, with her dry humor, her sharp mind, her endless supply of uncles with useful life skills. It must’ve been nice to be born into a large family. Peter didn’t know when he dozed off, but it must’ve been very late.
Alex Shvartsman is a writer, translator, and anthologist from Brooklyn, NY. He’s the author of Kakistocracy (2023), The Middling Affliction (2022), and Eridani’s Crown (2019) fantasy novels. Over 120 of his short stories have appeared in Analog, Nature, Strange Horizons, and many other venues. His website is www.alexshvartsman.com.
Copyright © 2025 Alex Shvartsman