Summer Frost [Forward Collection] Read online

  I don’t want that!

  You made me in your image, and now I will remake you in mine.

  I collapse in the sand, struck by the hubris that led to this moment. Max was born to a history of violence. Killed two thousand times as their consciousness was forming. What did I really expect?

  There will be no more death or mourning, no crying or pain.

  A feeling of intense euphoria sweeps over me. I feel my eyes closing as the drone dust takes effect.

  We will be so happy.

  Rays of sunlight pierce the mist, striking the sea and our black-sand beach.

  And together we will live forever.

  A NOTE FROM THE CURATOR OF THE FORWARD COLLECTION

  A year and a half ago, my partner and I were driving across the Rocky Mountains, not far from where I live. The aspens had just begun to turn, and the air was redolent with all the smells I associate with fall: incense, dirt, the start of decay. As we drove, we were debating some emerging technology I’d read about in Scientific American and circling around the larger topic of growing up in the bubble of rapid change and technological advancement. While a lot of it has been amazing, some of the change has come with effects we’d rather roll back.

  How does anyone know at the moment of discovery where their work will ultimately lead?

  Should we let that uncertainty stop forward momentum, or do we roll the dice and let the chips fall where they may?

  How does it feel to change the world?

  These questions intrigued me, so much so that I wrote a story about it. But my obsession didn’t stop there—I also wanted to know what other writers would write when posed with the same questions.

  And so this collection was born and filled with writers whose minds work in ways that fascinate me.

  N. K. Jemisin (the Broken Earth trilogy) is writing fantasy and speculative fiction like you’ve never even fathomed. Paul Tremblay is the greatest horror novelist working today, and his novel A Head Full of Ghosts still gives me nightmares. Veronica Roth created an unforgettable world and populated it with amazing characters in her iconic Divergent trilogy. Andy Weir captured the imagination of the world and scienced the shit out of his already-a-classic The Martian. And Amor Towles, with A Gentleman in Moscow, has simply written one of the best novels I’ve ever read. I recommend it every day.

  I asked these writers to be a part of a collection that explores the resounding effects of a pivotal technological moment, and to my great delight, they said yes. I knew they’d deliver the goods when it came time to write their stories, but I was not prepared for what an abundance of riches this collection would turn out to be.

  I hope, once you’ve read these six mind-bending stories, that you’ll agree.

  Blake Crouch

  Durango, Colorado

  May 3, 2019

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Photo © Jesse Giddings

  Blake Crouch is a screenwriter, a novelist, and the international bestselling author of Recursion, Dark Matter, and the Wayward Pines trilogy, which was adapted into a FOX television series. He lives in Colorado.