The Touches

by Brenda Peynado

Brenda Peynado's "The Touches" is a Tor.com Original short story set in a post-apocalyptic world

Salipa and Telo have perfect lives in the virtual reality world that humanity has retreated to after bacteria and viruses resistant to all medications take over the outside world.

But when the robots that take care of the necessities in the dirty outside world start glitching, Salipa must figure out what it means to truly live if they can never return to the world they once knew.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Dystopia, Artificial Intelligence, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Post Apocalyptic

27 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 13, 2019

Reviews

[karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outside it’s gray and ruined earth, trying to heal itself. All the superbugs—microbes and viruses that evolved immunity to antibiotics, that melted out of the polar ice caps and were released into the oceans, bugs we hadn’t seen for a million years—they’re all still out there, proliferating. Inside, the cubicle is a standard-issue sanitized room: only enough to feed yourself, hug your robot like you’re supposed to, bathe when you need, and then plug right back in and sleep along with your avatar. Every crack is sealed, every intake and retake valve opened only once a vacuum is established in the rest of the system. Back before the toilets were vacuum-sealed, they would spew all their bugs into the air, infecting everyone who used the same ventilation system, killing entire apartment complexes. It’s revolting, knowing how even the bacteria we need is mutating on our very skins, inside us, just a roll of the dice before they turn into something deadly; knowing that if the seals around our doors were to give way, we’d probably be puking our guts out within the week, killed by a bird flu or Ancient Mariner Infection or Limb-Taking Staph or Airborne HIV.

there wasn't a new tor short posted this thanksgiving week, so i waded thru the archives allll the way back to november 2019, and what did i find myself reading but a near-future story about how our world has become so toxic that it has forced humanity into über-quarantine, where all life is conducted virtually and people can go their whole lives without ever feeling the touch of another human.

it wasn't my intention to ring in the 2020 socially-distant holiday season with such a bleakly prescient tale, but here we are. it's a great story, just a little too close to reality right now. yeesh.

stay safe, everyone.



read it for yourself here:

https://www.tor.com/2019/11/13/the-to...

come to my blog!

[Alina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll also put the name of the story here, in case Goodreads decides to merge it into some other work...
The Touches by Brenda Peynado - 3.5/5★

A story set in a future where living is divided in clean (virtual life) and dirty (real life, people living in cubicles, attented by robots and protected by microbes and viruses that escaped the melting ice caps), and the need for human touch.

The short story is found in Some of the Best from Tor.com, 2019 edition and can also be read on Tor.com.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review for The Touches by Brenda Peynado.

Nothing resolved by the end of the story and was he cheating on her?!? 2, I want more answers, stars.

[chvang · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic read, but ultimately unfinished. It has the potential to be great, but too many things are unresolved, from Alicia's deal, Telos's moonlighting as a ... cuddler?, to Salipa's ultimate fate. I hope there's more. I need more.

The "ending" is a bit frustrating, but it's still worth your time. I recommend it, with that caveat.

3 & 1/2 stars, rounded up to 4. Has the potential to be 4 & 1/2 to 5 stars.

[Julianna Wagar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really interesting and especially relevant in the current global pandemic. I really enjoyed it and I'm excited for the whole collection to be released next year!

[Fatima · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know why I stopped a month ago. I finally remembered this short story, ate it up, and it has become my favorite short story so far. Even over Metamorphosis, wow.

Something about the as above/so below of the virtual utopia clean and the real world in ruin dirty.

How even a world of your own creation, your wildest dreams as long as you can afford to code it, is still nothing compared to the physical reality of being a human being - even at its worse, its filthiest.

I just really ate this world - well worlds - up. But the characters, the yearning, the fear. So, so good.

[Michelle Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warning: Written pre-COVID, this short story is about a post apocalyptic world where humans live in total isolation to prevent the spread of viruses, except when in VR. Sometimes it can be cathartic to read about an extreme version of the shitty thing you are experiencing.

Read for free here: https://www.tor.com/2019/11/13/the-to...

[Corrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Touches by author Brenda Paynado and is bleak dystopian short story I read on Scribd, but it is also available as a free read on the Tor.com site https://www.tor.com/2019/11/13/the-to...

Salipa and Telo have perfect lives in the virtual reality world that humanity has retreated to after bacteria and viruses resistant to all medications take over the outside world. But when the robots that take care of their necessities in the dirty outside world start glitching, Salipa must figure out what it means to truly live if they can never return to the outside world.

A story that is very relevant right now. Beautifully written but it really begs for more.

Themes: quarantined for life, starved of human touch.

4 Stars

[Farah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very short story, only 26 pages. So it is hard to say too much without giving it away. This takes place in a world that has been decimated by disease. People now reside in solitary cubicles, never seeing or touching another human, and live their life in a virtual world. The people rely on robots for everything, but what happens when they start to break down?

I enjoyed the writing. I like short stories, but I feel like this has the potential to be a really interesting novel. There were unanswered questions and there is so much about the world I would like to learn more about. I enjoyed this for what it was. Lovers of sci-fi/ dystopian stories would like this.

[OldBird · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather depressing short story of a world where touch is all but banned because of... disease. The physical world is off-limits due to the pollution, bacteria and viruses that ravage the world, and humanity exists inside sealed pods overseen by robots, living mentally in a VR world where touch just isn't the same. Written pre-COVID, it's enough to stir up unease even with the basic premise.

I found it a combination of enthralling and utterly, utterly depressing, but intentionally so. The inciting incident felt a tiny bit rushed given the significance, but I appreciated the terrible twist at the end.

[Heni · Rating 3 out of 5]

"All the superbugs—microbes and viruses that evolved immunity to antibiotics, that melted out of the polar ice caps and were released into the oceans, bugs we hadn’t seen for a million years"

So the setting of this story is basically in 2030?

My only complain is that the glitching is not explained. What happened?

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the things I didn't like about it were intentional rather than oversight or lack of skill. Which means it could be great for you, and just not my cup of proverbial tea. There are some interesting insights into human nature nonetheless.

[JR Dabbles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved the concept of people locked up from disease so they live in a virtual world. How the virtual world provides human contact and yet not enough. Mix in a child on the way and its an interesting, emotional tale of what matters most.

[Raf · Rating 4 out of 5]

🌟⭐ 8 stars out of 10 ⭐🌟
Reading this in the midst of global pandemic hit different. The concept is nice but the story lacking kicks.

Keywords: short story, scifi, dystopia, virtual reality, quarrantine

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost eerily prophetic (although we aren't living in bubbles like this ... yet) and very relevant to current pandemic events. Seeing people in a virtual world isn't the same as seeing them in reality.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story, alas, did nothing for me.

[Katrina Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very depressing world where there is no touch because of deadly disease. Not a bad story.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

prescient

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outside: it’s gray and ruined earth, trying to heal itself. All the superbugs—microbes and viruses that evolved immunity to antibiotics, that melted out of the polar ice caps and were released into the oceans, bugs we hadn’t seen for a million years—they’re all still out there, proliferating.

Inside: the cubicle is a standard-issue sanitized room: only enough to feed yourself, hug your robot like you’re supposed to, bathe when you need, and then plug right back in and sleep along with your avatar.

[Lizabeth Tucker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Life is separated into clean and dirty. Clean was living virtually, locked into a tiny cubicle from birth, cared for by an an assigned robot, and hooked up to an all-encompassing system for hours at a time. Dirty is the real world, filled with plagues and viruses and what the narrator calls filth. Things get more complicated as robots glitch, an accident puts the narrator into quarantine, and a phone number leads to something scary.

There's a layer of disconnection due to a lack of physical contact that cannot be fulfilled by robot hugs and virtual touches. Add to that the narrator's extreme fear of the dirty world. She actually has counted the number of real physical touches in her life. Very intense, more so during our current Pandemic and the separation of friends and family. Also extremely weird. I don't know what to say about this one, but I suspect it will linger in my memory for quite a while. 3.5 out of 5.

[Beth N · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imagine a post-apocalyptic future in which people live two lives: one in the real, "dirty" world, devoid of all human contact for fear of contracting disease, and another in a virtual, "clean" reality, modelled to resemble as closely as possible the world that we know today.

This is the setting for The Touches. Peynado does a good job of finding the human within this computer generated reality, her characters responding with believable longings and neuroses. The world is surprisingly fleshed out for a 27 page story and I found myself immersed pretty quickly.

The ending was a little predictable but that didn't damage the enjoyment I got from it. A competent story with glimmers of something greater.

[Tiffany Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got to read this one through the Tor.com newsletter and I loved it. Although it appeared to be complete in the newsletter, I was kinda hoping I was wrong because I wanted more of this story. I wanted to know what happened next and what happened to the world in the end. See! This is why I don't really like short stories! Too many questions at the end. But really, take 15 minutes or so and go read it. Good stuff.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing amount of world building in such a short story, and it left me wanting more. There are so many questions that are left unanswered. This is one I would like to read as a full-length novel.