Short stories by A. Merc Rustad
Merc Fenn Wolfmoor is a prolific American author of speculative fiction short stories. They are the author of the books So You Want to Be a Robot, Friends for Robots, among others. Their works have been published in a number of magazines and anthologies such as Apex Magazine, Cicada, Lightspeed, and others. Their work has also appeared in various collections of the year's best stories and have been finalists for the Otherwise, Locus, and Nebula Awards. Some of their early work was published as by Abby Rustad, Abby "Merc" Rustad, or Merc Rustad. They changed their name to Merc Fenn Wolfmoor in 2019.
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Listing 6 stories.
A human undergoes a procedure to transplant her consciousness into a spaceship, though her actions are held under strict protocol. After she befriends a vulnerable child stowaway onboard, she decides to take back control of the ship.
In a distant future on another planet, a middle-aged female cyborg finds herself at the end of a five-year long war. Amidst Earth's triumph, this soldier must confront the death of her long-missing husband and the toll of years of violence. With the help of a fellow survivor, the new widow and veteran begins to learn how to both honor and let go of the past. On the war-torn land of another planet, a female cyborg soldier finds herself at the end of five years of violence. Though Earth claims the victory, the new veteran cannot celebrate, confronted by the loss of her husband and her will to live. The widowed woman and a fellow survivor reckon with their uncertain futures and learn how to let go of the past.
An asexual woman with a gay fake boyfriend falls in love with a robot. She debates whether to reveal this to him even as she struggles with depression and longs to become a robot herself.
An assassin begins to question the king's authority after they are forced to kill someone innocent. The assassin must decide if they will still protect the king, who is their brother, against a legendary murderer of royal figures.
When a young girl finds that she can no longer visit the magical world she loved as a child, she tries to find her way back to that world while struggling with the challenges of growing up.
In the distant future, an enslaved cyborg wraith escapes its executioner role with the help of its godly creator, regaining lost memories in the process. The wraith seeks to make amends for the souls it has taken, including that of a past lover, but finds that redemption comes at a great price.