{"id":6695,"date":"2023-05-08T13:15:02","date_gmt":"2023-05-08T13:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/?p=6695"},"modified":"2023-05-08T13:15:04","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T13:15:04","slug":"lol-said-the-scorpion-by-rich-larson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/?p=6695","title":{"rendered":"LOL, Said the Scorpion by Rich Larson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

LOL, Said the Scorpion<\/em><\/strong> by Rich Larson (Clarkesworld<\/em> #200, May-June 2023) opens with Maeve, one half of a couple, getting fitted for a \u201choliday suit\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cDoes it come in any other colors?\u201d Maeve asks, eyeing herself in the smart glass.
\u201cNo,\u201d the salesperson admits. \u201cYou look quite elegant in eggshell, though.\u201d
She\u2019s undecided. The holiday suit is a cooperative swarm of microorganisms, a pale paramecium shroud that coats her entire body, wetly glistening.
\u201cFull-spectrum UV protection, internal temperature regulation, virus filtration, water desalination, emergency starch synthesis.\u201d The salesperson has a comforting sort of murmur. \u201cIdeal for any sort of live tourism. Where will you be off to?\u201d
\u201cFaro,\u201d Maeve says, and saying the name conjures immaculate white buildings and deep blue waters onto the smart glass behind her, displaying the paradise she\u2019s dreamed of for entire weeks now.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The rest of the story sees Maeve and Charlie on holiday, where we see Maeve\u2019s suit filtering out a range of unpleasant stimuli, beginning with the aeroplane peanuts (allergen hazard) and the smell of a (unbeknown to them) dead gecko in the autocab\u2019s undercarriage. (Charlie is less keen on the suits, \u201cThe whole point of live tourism is authenticity.\u201d)
Later on Maeve\u2019s suit edits a drunken tourist from her view, and the suit\u2019s more advanced protection functions are revealed when the couple go on a boat trip for a personal dining experience\u2014when the chef brushes past Maeve, the suit bites him. This latter occurrence (spoiler) foreshadows the climactic scene where Maeve becomes aware of a presence when she goes walking on the beach one night when she cannot sleep. She rolls down the hood of the suit to see what is there and becomes aware of the stench of Faro\u2019s unfiltered air\u2014and then sees that a man who shouted at the couple days earlier is in front of her. He speaks to her in Portugese1<\/sup> and grabs hold of her, whereupon the suit bites off his fingers and leaves him with bleeding stumps.
When Maeve returns to her room, Charlie notes the attractive pink hue of her suit, a call back to colour discussion at the beginning of the story, and a comment that reinforces the horror of the recent event.
This is all executed well enough (there are a number of neat little touches), and it makes a point about the irony of travelling to new places but insulating yourself from that reality. However, it didn\u2019t really engage me, probably due to the slightly dream-like logic and setting of the story (why would people be allowed to wear suits that are capable of wounding others? You might get away with that in some US states, but I doubt you would in Europe). Awful title.
** (Average). 2,670 words. Story link<\/a>.

1. The man who accosts Maeve on the beach says three things, \u201cAjude-me.\u201d; \u201cAcho que sou o Homem Invis\u00edvel\u201d; \u201cO do filme antigo. Ajude-me.\u201d This Google translates to \u201cHelp me\u201d; \u201cI think I\u2019m the Invisible Man\u201d; \u201cThe one in the old movie. Help me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LOL, Said the Scorpion by Rich Larson (Clarkesworld #200, May-June 2023) opens with Maeve, one half of a couple, getting fitted for a \u201choliday suit\u201d: \u201cDoes it come in any other colors?\u201d Maeve asks, eyeing herself in the smart glass.\u201cNo,\u201d the salesperson admits. \u201cYou look quite elegant in eggshell, though.\u201dShe\u2019s undecided. The holiday suit is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[309],"tags":[17,1400,1570,622,310,12,1571],"class_list":["post-6695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rich-larson","tag-17","tag-1400","tag-bio-suits","tag-clarkesworld","tag-rich-larson","tag-short-story","tag-tourism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6695"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6701,"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6695\/revisions\/6701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}