Meishuu’s Reviews > Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 233, February 2026 > Status Update

“I want you to read my future in a shattered planet,” he said. “In the entrails of an entire civilization.”

…damn

“When Mars enters the capsule, his twin is vivisecting himself. The coppery smell of blood hangs like a shroud. A military-issue nanoknife, tip dipped red, sits beside the wash basin. Balarabe squats overtop of it, the flesh of his right forearm held open by calipers. With his left hand, he plucks at the long tendons he’s managed to expose. The fingers of his right hand spasm.” The right amount of gore

“I can’t prove to you that I’m conscious. I don’t know what parts of me are truly me and what parts are just schematics.” Sensors in overdrive. All regions of the brain flickering. Maria discovered what true love was, and it was unapologetic madness. “But all parts of me know that I never plan on letting you go.”

Lesbian yearning but she’s an android…

“Chip” was meh

“I wanted you to pick me, so I talked about memory-martyrdom as a grave sacrifice. I didn’t tell you how badly I wanted to be a ghost. There are other things you didn’t understand about me. But we’ll come to that.”