SGT

SMACIN GRACEFULL TEAM The Art of Inventing Untruths By: Richa Jain Author bio: I write occasionally. ADVERTISEMENT “I miss you.” I lie through my teeth, knowing that when she gets my message, Jane will be sobbing and begging for me to come back. I lie about it all, telling her I find the way she can’t ravish a meal if two different foods are touching each other endearing, as if she weren’t a twenty-six-year-old woman who behaved like she was ten. That I miss the way she’d wake me up by jumping on our bed, as if I found it comical and adorable and not incredibly aggravating. ADVERTISEMENT I tell her everything I know she wants to hear, because I need her to come back. You see, Jane might not be the woman I love or envision spending the entirety of my life with, but she is the woman that has made my life comfortable to a degree I’ve grown accustomed

SMACIN GRACEFULL TEAM Synthetic Perennial (Fiction Story) By Vivianni Glass K’Mori has died once already. Brought back to life, she struggles with the limits of her reanimation while the world struggles with its meaning. ADVERTISEMENT “You cuffed me. That could be the worst way to say you’re a safe adult.” “They are not handcuffs, K’mori—they are padded restraints. And they are for your safety.” “Doctor. Respectfully. Do you hear what you’re saying to me right now?” I lift my leg, the seat-belt webbing tugging tight against the bed frame. “It’s mad goofy.” ADVERTISEMENT Dr. Sanna is the first doctor I remember meeting after I died. Usually, we’re cool because she teaches me how to curse in Italian, but right now her tone says she is losing patience. Hospital lights bounce off the fat diamond she wears on her hand as she massages the wrinkles in her brow.

SMACIN GRACEFULL TEAM Love at first byte Written by: Michael Heavener It happened again. I asked the MIRI voice-activated AI on my laptop to show me the SGT website … and a woman’s face came up on my screen. No website appeared. MIRI didn’t even open a browser. But it winked at me. That’s it … just winked. This started happening last week after I upgraded the computer’s operating system. I had asked MIRI to start my screen saver. It just winked, and smiled. I asked it to open the Bluetooth app when that stopped connecting to my mouse. It just winked again. Its smile was seductive. I asked it to look up airfare to Chicago. It just winked -- words on the screen flashed, “I love you.” ADVERTISEMENT I don’t know what to think. Somehow the AI engine in the upgraded operating system has developed a personality of its own that isn’t what I expected, based on past performanc