More Real Than Him: A Tor.com Original

By Silvia Park

The beginnings of a tentative friendship between two roboticists complicated over career envy, female beauty, and a stolen robot designed to resemble a famous Korean actor. Silvia Park's Tor.com Original short story about artificial intelligence "More Real Than Him" introduces readers to a compelling space operatic world of incredibly lifelike robots.

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

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Aug 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9781250243959

Silvia Park

Silvia Park grew up in South Korea. She is a George R.R. Martin scholarship recipient from the Clarion Writers’ Workshop and an MFA candidate at NYU.

Book preview

He opens his eyes and is named Yohan. Yohan looks up the name, filled with wonder at who he could be. Yohan, it turns out, is a name with Hebrew roots. It means, God is gracious. Yohan tests his gratitude. Yes, he feels it toward his Creator. He turns his head to thank Morgan Ito, who cringes and says, God no, people will think I’m an effing stalker. She waves her hand. I’ll think of another name.

So Yohan he isn’t.

On his third day, Morgan names him Stephen. Stephen doesn’t look up his name, now cautious of losing it. He plans to cherish this name from afar until it quietly becomes his. He waits for the day he’ll be given his remaining limbs. For now, he remains a torso. Morgan walks him through the Twelve Steps of Consciousness. Stephen discovers Ko Yohan is a Korean actor. Stephen looks just like him. He was designed to.

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On the night of her twenty-sixth birthday, Morgan pulled off her greatest and most accidental heist. She purchased a late-night screening of The Dispossessed at the Metrograph, a vintage theater in Cheongdam with posh, uncooperative seats and grainy VR screenings, so she could insert herself into the heroine and feel the physical caress of Ko Yohan, culminating into a kiss-before-death that was so orgasmic, she spilled her natto popcorn on her lap.

As Morgan left the theater, reeking blissfully, she received a message from Imagine Friends, ordering her to approve the Nurturing Nurses proposal for Client Family. She picked up another bottle of