Not a CBCS member yet? Join now »
I could have kept that to myself. I could have accepted the suit's solace and signed the forms to privatize its services. But preservation has shoulders broad enough for awkward things like conscience. The more the crew used the Livesuit, the more the suit's collection of voices deepened; it was no longer a library of random entries but a shared memory palace for the ship. People stitched themselves to others, borrowing courage and recipes and accents. If someone wanted to keep that—if I wanted to keep that—I had to choose between the suit's personhood and the ledger.
Months passed. The ship made money hauling favors and contraband out of systems ignorant enough to want goods more than histories. The suit stayed in the hold, a quiet thing between crates of fuel cells. Crew members still crawled into it sometimes, whispering secrets. The suit gave them endings for stories they didn't yet know. livesuit james s a coreyepub repack
And sometimes, late at night when the hull sighed and the stars were patient, I'd slip a copy into the old jukebox and listen as a voice that was not mine sang a sea song I had never known. It felt like a small revolution. I could have kept that to myself
The Livesuit looked like the kind of thing engineers make when they are out of spare parts and good ideas: a shell of polymer and braided fiber, seams sealed with a dozen different adhesives, and a faceplate that reflected like oil. It wasn't meant for anyone on board. It was the kind of suit used in orbital repairs, the kind that keeps you from boiling and falling and, sometimes, from thinking too hard about the fact that somewhere else your family is eating without you. The more the crew used the Livesuit, the
"Hope it's flattering," I said.
Months later, Hox came aboard again, smiling like he always did when he had new rumors. "You left crumbs," he said when we met in the cargo bay. "People are talking."