A Pinata For Juanita [A Short Story from the Shards Universe]

Shards

by Peter Prellwitz

v. To switch personas. Once a mind has been riped (wiped and rewritten), the previously used portion is closed off and an artificial psychic barrier is raised. Although highly unlikely, the barrier can be breached, and the closed off persona--even the original one--behind that barrier becomes dominant. This temporary episode is called a shard. If sharding continues, however, it does so at an increasing rate, weakening the psychic barriers, until it reaches a cascade level. Once cascade sharding begins, dissolution and death are inevitable.

Nook

First published April 7, 2006