Renata Cole had watched four hundred hours of stolen memory, and none of it belonged to her. That was the job. As lead investigator for Halcyon Dynamics' Continuity Division, she spent her days inside other people's heads, sifting the backed-up minds of executives who'd paid a fortune to have their memories archived against death, dementia, … Continue reading The Locksmith
Identity
Question of the Week #504
Welcome back to another Question of the Week here at The Confusing Middle! We're picking up right where last week left off, so if you missed #503, go read it first. That one asked whether you'd trade your looks for a hundred extra years of life, and I answered yes almost immediately, then spent the … Continue reading Question of the Week #504
The Character Couch – Worf
Pull up a chair. Today's guest arrived early, sat down without being asked, and has already informed me twice that this entire exercise is beneath a warrior's dignity. He's still here. That tells you almost everything you need to know about him before he says another word. Worf is a strange case for the Couch, … Continue reading The Character Couch – Worf
Question of the Week #501
Welcome back to another Question of the Week here at The Confusing Middle! This one comes courtesy of Gregory Stock's The Book of Questions, and it's the kind of question that sounds like science fiction until you realize how much of the underlying technology already exists. Here it is. Would you want every person in … Continue reading Question of the Week #501
The Last Version of You
Margaret had been awake for thirty-one hours when they finally told her it was time. She sat in the waiting room of the Synapse Institute with a cup of terrible coffee going cold in her hands, watching the second hand on the wall clock make its slow, indifferent circuits. Around her, the room hummed with … Continue reading The Last Version of You
The Assigned
The letter arrived, as it always did, on the morning of a child's eighteenth birthday... printed on government-issue cream cardstock, sealed with the blue wax emblem of the Bureau of Productive Placement, and slid under the front door at precisely 6:00 a.m. by a courier who never knocked and was never seen. Nora Calloway found … Continue reading The Assigned
The Character Couch – Cece Parikh
Welcome back to The Character Couch, where we put on our amateur psychology hats and spend some quality time with characters who probably could have used a real therapist at some point along the way. Today's subject arrived looking impeccably put-together — and I mean that literally. She is a professional fashion model, so she … Continue reading The Character Couch – Cece Parikh
Hogwarts Houses: Stereotypes, Unity, and Personal Growth
There is a question that has followed Harry Potter fans around for nearly thirty years now, surviving playground arguments, Pottermore quizzes, and at least a dozen personality tests designed to help you figure out whether you belong with the brave ones, the loyal ones, the clever ones, or the ambitious ones. The question is deceptively … Continue reading Hogwarts Houses: Stereotypes, Unity, and Personal Growth
AFI #55 – North by Northwest
North by Northwest 1959 Directed by Alfred Hitchcock Netflix says... What if everyone around you was suddenly convinced that you were a spy? This classic from master director Alfred Hitchcock stars Cary Grant as an advertising executive who looks a little too much like someone else and is forced to go on the lam (helped … Continue reading AFI #55 – North by Northwest
Just a Blatant Refusal
In the world of banking, the people on the front lines of the industry are known as tellers. These are the people who are expected to help customers with all of their day to day banking needs. It is often a thankless and miserable position to hold. These are their stories. These are their legends… … Continue reading Just a Blatant Refusal
