Erosion

Short Story by Ian Creasey

Triple-layered title: Humanity is eroded as we replace more and more of our bodies with artificial parts. Our eroded protagonist, Winston, wanders the eroding cliffs of England, which is crumbling into a rising sea. While taking one last walk before leaving to colonize a new planet, he encounters the eroding AI of an old lady attached to a bench memorializing the woman she once was. He proceeds to get into and out of trouble, but the point of the story is more in how we are forced to give up bits of ourselves and will eventually be left with nothing of the original. And the feeling I get reading this is maybe that erosion won't be so catastrophic after all. A strangely hopeful take on a classically depressing trend; I like it. 4.5 out of 5 AI's are sick of haunting worn-down benches.