Excerpt: The Last Place to Stand

        The building was the same as usual, but it felt different somehow to her. It was not the office, she realized, that had changed. It was her.
        Upon entering her office, she saw the same people doing their same jobs. No one talked. All was moving of chairs, clicking of keys, sending and receiving of feeds. But something did get her attention. The man whom she had talked to the other day, the whole reason she came to work one last time, was gone. He did not sit in his customary chair. She wondered what could have happened. Was he sick? Was he suffering from something? Had he reached the same conclusions that she had?
        She went over to his desk. There the computer hummed. On the screen was a memo to be sent via feed, she assumed. But the memo said, "X213, I have something you should probably know. I think something big is about to happen. There is an experiment that the company is about to start. It might be dangerous since it involves a more complete interface of man and machine. Make sure you don't get the upgrade if they offer it. I sort of stumbled into this information."
        "You should also know that I will not longer be here. I realized that this is no place for me. You are the only person I ever talked to at our work. I would be surprised if you even read this, but I wanted you to know. As an old man, I always thought you could have been my daughter."