Dead End

"Dead End" by Wallace Macfarlane is a science fiction story that takes place in 2512, where fake humans called pseudo-lives have taken over, pondering what happens when technology tries to erase pain and death. A scientist named William Manning Norcross is questioned by his old student, John Davis Drumstetter, about hiding important scientific discoveries. Drumstetter struggles with not feeling connected to real people, and is trying to finish his work on a stellar overdrive for space travel, but he's becoming more and more discouraged by a society that prefers artificial replacements over real life. To help him cope, Norcross introduces Drumstetter to Monica Drake Lane, a pseudo-life version of his dead fiancée. In the end, Drumstetter realizes how empty everything has become, rejects the fakeness of pseudo-life, and yearns for real human experiences and connections.