Extra Ellies by Julia Ecklar (short story)
Story art by Janet Aulisio
Julia Ecklar's Regenesis has been coming to mind recently. There was so much I liked about it, but it is the only book in that world. Hell, it's the only book Julia Ecklar wrote that doesn't exist under the umbrella of a broad tradition such as Star Trek.
Desperate for more Julia Ecklar, but not interested in wading into Star Trek at this point (despite growing up on its various incarnations and reading a few novels in my day), I landed on one of her short stories.
I love everything visual about Extra Ellies. The magazine's cover art, the art for the story itself, even the clipart on the invoice from the bookseller: 10/10, I am graphically pleased.
The short story itself is a mere nine pages long. Ina Kohill inherits her uncle's outlandishly lavish, yet still rustic, home on the outskirts of a space station. Yet poor (both literally and figuratively) Ina is far from grateful for this windfall. She's too busy being terrified of almost literally everything.
While Regenesis dazzles with biology and ecology, Extra Ellis tries to thrill with statistics. I'd argue that's very ambitious. Thankfully, with Julia Ecklar's massive talent, some of that thrill is felt through Ina.
Being rooted in a STEM field isn't the only similarity between Regenesis and Extra Ellies. One particular notion carries over: the idea of Newborns.
Newborns are robots that possess such sophisticated AI (which has allowed them to develop unique personalities) that they've petitioned for, and been granted, legal autonomy. They're equal to humans.
I love Newborns, mainly because they're rarely, if ever, described as humanoid. One particularly memorable Newborn in Regenesis is basically a navigation system for watercraft, and it cannot move or even function without being integrated with a watercraft. Yet it's an independent entity on account of its personality.
It's hard to go into depth about what I did or didn't like in a nine-page story without spelling out all the important bits, but I'll try. Then I'll go straight into a spoiler.
As she did in Regenesis, Julia Ecklar crafts a tight little world, and her attention to detail is beyond reproach. Her ideas for this world are larger than this specific story; she merely selected one thread that would play in nine pages. Ina Kohill might not be the most sympathetic character on account of her sheer and largely unreasonable panic, but somehow you still feel for her. There's a lot to like here.
The con I can mention in abstract is that this world/story seems to exist in extremes. On the one hand, Extra Ellies is reminiscent of cyber-punk dystopian stories, so you almost expect hard-headed and extreme (to the illogical) factions. On the other, perhaps the topic of this story is too big to cleanly boil down into nine pages without feeling like some oversimplifications are going on. And this feeling of simplicity does undermine the emotional weight of the plot.
Still, I'm glad I went out of my way to order this magazine, and it was a fun, quick dip back into Ecklar's writing. I only wish she had more out there.
Okay, are you ready for spoilers?
The plot is this: Ina Kohill is an insurance agent of sorts, except she predicts how everyday actions affect mortality rates. So, for example, taking the stairs rather than using a lift might increase the chance of mortality by a little, based on the fact that you're more likely to stumble and fall and hurt yourself when moving manually. (There is the chance that a lift might break, but that chance is lower.)
In this world, the obsession over these numbers has turned into absolutes. Taking the stairs seems to affect, almost permanently, Ina's calculations as to her mortality. In her mind, those stairs took minutes off her life even though she navigated them without incident.
Actions that are good for your longevity seem to stick with equal fervor and absurdity. People who make careful decisions to accrue positive modifiers to their mortality consider their lifespan to be 300+ years, even though it doesn't appear that the average human of this space station lives much longer than we do today.
So, statistics are king, to the point where it's illogical. Worse, laws, policies, and human behaviors are shaped by these calculations, to the point where folks rarely leave their perfectly safe little bubbles.
But not Ina's uncle. He lived life to the fullest yet still died of old age. He even had a pool which, everyone knows, is like negative ten-thousand years off your life. He left his estate to Ina because he—along with his Newborn butler and several friends/associates—wanted to convince her to lie in her reports so people would live again. A scheme ensues to try to convince her of taking this action.
Six months ago, I would have shrugged at that plot and said, "fair enough." Ina's reports, while technically accurate, are not beneficial to the denizens of the space station. Certainly, the interpretation of these reports has gotten out of hand. It's not unreasonable to think that something ought to be done to stop the stranglehold these awfully specific statistics have on people.
Today, the idea of lying about safety to trick people into different behavior makes me shudder. Yes, the world of Extra Ellies has taken things too far. Yes, it's absurd if people won't touch their toes in a pool of water for fear of drowning statistics. But ... yeesh. I could not imagine a time I'd be less receptive to the "point" of this story than right now, amid a global pandemic, when (my) political leaders are lying about safety to trick people into behaving against their best interests.
(Naturally, Ina begins to understand her uncle's conspirators and even steps into the pool. She's decided to live again.)
