{"id":6702,"date":"2023-05-09T11:58:53","date_gmt":"2023-05-09T11:58:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/?p=6702"},"modified":"2023-05-09T11:58:55","modified_gmt":"2023-05-09T11:58:55","slug":"sensations-and-sensibility-by-parker-ragland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/?p=6702","title":{"rendered":"Sensations and Sensibility by Parker Ragland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sensations and Sensibility<\/em><\/strong> by Parker Ragland (Clarkesworld<\/em> #200, May-June 2023) opens with two droids entering a caf\u00e9 called The Queen of Tarts<\/em>, a period caf\u00e9 from before the time of cybernetics and augmented reality. After they seat themselves, Mairead asks Cian what they should order\u2014and the latter\u2019s response about the cold reveals that Mairead, who was not aware of the low temperatures outside, has no sense of touch or sensation. Then, after they order a tomato tart from the human server, and discuss what \u201chot\u201d feels like, we learn that Cian has no sense of smell.
The rest of the story mostly consists of the two droids\u2019 conversations about these deficiencies, during which they attempt to mimic human behaviour (something seen when their tomato tart arrives):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cDo you want to cut it?\u201d Mairead asked.
\u201cIs that what we\u2019re supposed to do?\u201d
\u201cIt\u2019s what the humans are doing.\u201d Mairead nodded toward a couple sitting at a nearby table. On their plates, the two had neat wedges.
Cian shrugged and picked up their knife. They worked the blade through the pastry. Hot juices bubbled out of the gashes.
\u201cPerfect,\u201d Mairead said.
Cian carefully transferred the triangular slices onto plates using the flat of the blade. Then the droid swapped the knife for a spoon.
\u201cI believe we\u2019re supposed to use the other one, the one with the points.\u201d Mairead picked up a fork and showed it to Cian. \u201cThat\u2019s what those people over there are doing.\u201d
Cian switched the items of cutlery.
\u201cAnd don\u2019t forget to put your napkin in your lap,\u201d Mairead said.
Cian ignored Mairead\u2019s second suggestion.
Mairead scraped off a bit of the tart and brought it close to their mouth. They acted out taking a bite by chomping on thin air. \u201cDelicious.\u201d
\u201cShould I actually put a bit in my mouth?\u201d Cian asked.
\u201cWhat would happen if you accidentally swallowed?\u201d
\u201cI don\u2019t know. I\u2019m not even sure I can swallow.\u201d Cian skewered the tart, tore a piece free from the slice, and then inspected the potential bite. \u201cI could spit it out.\u201d
\u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s polite.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Their conversation subsequently devolves into a mild quarrel.
If there is a point to this inconsequential story, it eluded me.
* (Mediocre). 2,160 words. Story link<\/a>.

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sensations and Sensibility by Parker Ragland (Clarkesworld #200, May-June 2023) opens with two droids entering a caf\u00e9 called The Queen of Tarts, a period caf\u00e9 from before the time of cybernetics and augmented reality. After they seat themselves, Mairead asks Cian what they should order\u2014and the latter\u2019s response about the cold reveals that Mairead, who […]<\/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_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1572],"tags":[21,1400,694,622,1574,1573,12],"class_list":["post-6702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-parker-ragland","tag-21","tag-1400","tag-androids","tag-clarkesworld","tag-mimesis","tag-parker-ragland","tag-short-story"],"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\/6702","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=6702"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6708,"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6702\/revisions\/6708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}