Not This One — by Ai Jiang
“Let me see your face,” I drawled.
A hologram projected outward from the glass screen on my desk’s surface. The floating face without its body was the same one my virtual lover displayed yesterday.
My lips dipped at one side. “No, not this one. A new one.”
He sighed. “You used to love my face.”
It had been five years since I saw his natural, un-technologically tampered face.
“Used to.”
The hologram shifted: a stubbled chin and a balding head. My tongue dried.
I hastened to end the call. The hologram dissipated, but my aged face lingered in my mind.
author Bio:
Ai Jiang is a Chinese-Canadian writer, an immigrant from Fujian, and an active member of HWA. Don't let the smile fool you—her words are quite dark. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in F&SF, The Dark, Dark Matter, PseudoPod, Uncanny, The Deadlands, among others. Find her on Twitter (@AiJiang_) and online (http://aijiang.ca).
