Closer - Greg Egan

Short Story

Number of words : 5800
Percent of complex words : 13.6
Average syllables per word : 1.6
Average words per sentence : 17.1


READABILITY INDICES

Fog : 12.3
Flesch : 55.5
Flesch-Kincaid : 9.8

PEOPLE


Sian

A communications engineer.

Michael

A holovision news editor.

Craig Bentley

A cyberneurologist.

Elvis Presley

A rock star.

Marilyn Monroe

An actress.

Foucault

Famous for a pendulum.


TECHNOLOGY

Ndoli Device

A neural-net computer implanted shortly after birth, imitates the brain down to neuron level.

Hover-camera

Mobile flying recorder.

Mature Extras

Fully grown clones of yourself.


MEDIA

Waiting for Godot

A play performed by augmented parrots.

Bond of Union

Lithograph by Escher.


Sian and Michael meet at work and fall in love. The Ndoli device confers immortality if desired, so they experiment. With switching bodies, with identical bodies, with clones of themselves. Then with identical minds, and finally being joined in one artificial body.

This complete revelation proves too much for them to be able to stay together as a couple.


3.5 out of 5


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