Phantom Limb

by Reiko Scott

I received my first cybernetic arm when I was eight years old.

Naomi Shimizu has undergone several enhancements. A cybernetic arm, to replace her crushed one. Smooth pale skin and visual implants, to replace what was lost in an accident. Over the course of her life, she has traded organic body parts for constructed ones—not always with her consent. So now, Naomi works for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene under the Cybernetic Registry, to halt and prevent the blackmarket sale of cybernetic mods. But modifications have a way of changing a girl—and Naomi will do anything it takes to do her job. To be perfect.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories

36 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 25, 2018

Reviews

[TheBookSmugglers]

new short story! <3

[Windypicnic]

An excellent short story that explores the dissonance between the cyborg heroine’s identity as a Japanese woman and the artificial white visage she must wear. I can’t think of a more fitting or articulate fuck you to appropriative cyborg texts like the US ‘Ghost in the Shell’ adaptation. Absolutely worth reading.

[Xan Rooyen]

Wow, lots to unpack in this short story, and again I find myself wishing this was a whole novel!

[Yukari Watanabe]

It's my daughter's debut short story. And besides, it's a very well crafted, thought provoking science fiction. Of course I give 5 stars!

Reiko Scott is a full-time medical student and part-time writer. She is also a graduate of the 2017 VONA/Voice workshop. She is also interested in narrative medicine and this short story reflects all of her interests.

[Nick]

There's a new voice in sci-fi with a unique perspective on what it means to integrate a mix of roles, heritages, and cultures within one person. In this case, Naomi is a survivor of a terrible car crash at age eight. She's been rebuilt with human and cybernetic parts, and with the purity and strength of becoming part-cyborg comes confusion, detachment, and loss. In addition, her mother is Japanese; mother and daughter have to cope with the off-kilter world of a future New York City as strangers in more than one sense of the word. This story is a brilliant meditation on how it feels to be simultaneously close and distant to parts of yourself, your identity, and your past. I hope Scott turns this into a novel; I'd be lined up to read it.

[Holly]

holy shit, this was SO GOOD. I loved the sci-fi part of it, though some of the science and medical aspects went over my head, to be honest. And I loved that it tied in with how Naomi felt about her Japanese heritage, and her past of being rebuilt with parts that don't quite fit right, that make her feel less-than-human. She was struggling with her identity in the story, and I think so many people can relate to that, how grueling it can be living in a society that constantly boasts how one can change themselves, take the pieces they don't like or are ashamed of, and make them better. I could understand how Naomi felt, but THAT ENDING, THOUGH. OMG. I was so not expecting that!! Phantom Limb was kind of a chilling look at what someone might do to be perfect.

Rating: 4.5 stars

[Caroline]

This story absolutely blew me away. Beautiful narration and fascinating themes. Probably the best short story I've read this year.

[Ben Nash]

I liked this story and put my brief review over at https://talesfromahack.wordpress.com/...

[DMS]

The