No Return
Stories in the collection No Return.
Object
- Altrupin
A medication in Presence used by the narrator during worsening illness and eventual death.
- Avenforth Assam
The tea strain in The Palisade required for Matthew Saaland's transit ritual and later made scarce by its disappearance from sale.
- City Intelligence Platform
A municipal artificial intelligence in The Olynthian.
- Lysa
A household and identity assistant in Presence that manages calls, searches, approvals, and device access.
- Presence (device)
A screenless networked device in Presence that joins its owner's identity and eventually continues the owner's life online.
- Second machine
A Project Remus consciousness-transfer device in The Third Machine.
- Third machine
A Project Remus dimensional bridge device in The Third Machine.
Character
- Avery (Presence)
The narrator's partner in Presence, who leaves for Japan and remains connected through the narrator's mediated identity.
- Brendan Childs
The wireless operator in Dark Peak.
- Edith Seabrook
An English playwright in The Palisade who introduces Matthew Saaland to the rules and dangers of Lionel Prescott's realm.
- Emor (Presence)
A recurring contact of the narrator in Presence who remains connected through mediated calls and Realspace meetings.
- Helen Fenton
The acting Project Remus lead in The Third Machine.
- Helen Hayworth
A Project Remus scientist in The Third Machine.
- Irving Platt
The viewpoint character of Dark Peak, a postwar flight sergeant haunted by his former captain and carried into a supernatural moor.
- James Tyler
An officer and insurrectionist leader in Execution Detail.
- John Fenton
A Project Remus engineer in The Third Machine.
- Lionel Prescott
The deceased mystic figure in The Palisade whose instructions and manifested realm draw Matthew Saaland into another relation to time.
- Lorraine Pavia
A scientist in The Olynthian.
- Martin Mercure
An American airman in Dark Peak.
- Matthew Saaland
The viewpoint character of The Palisade, whose discovery of Lionel Prescott's ritual instructions draws him into a realm outside ordinary time.
- Narrator of Presence
The unnamed viewpoint character in Presence whose identity is gradually assumed by the Presence device.
- Patricia Corsaro
A lance corporal and marksman in Execution Detail.
- Peggy Mercure
Martin Mercure's wife in Dark Peak.
- Raymond Hayworth
A Project Remus physicist in The Third Machine.
- Taylor Martine
The narrator's sibling in Presence, whose final conversations are largely carried by the Presence device.
Short Story
- Dark Peak
A short story about a postwar decommissioning flight that descends into a supernatural moor.
- Execution Detail
A short story about a marksman ordered to execute an insurrectionist leader.
- Presence
A short story about a networked device that gradually replaces its owner's social identity.
- The Olynthian
A short story about a municipal artificial intelligence.
- The Palisade
A short story about a man who discovers a realm outside ordinary time and the relationship that keeps drawing him back.
- The Third Machine
A short story about two parallel Project Remus facilities after a dimensional contact accident.
Short Story Collection
- No Return
A short story collection by Cairo Smith.
Place
- Palisade (realm)
An imagined forest realm where time runs differently. Home to Lionel Prescott's cottage.
- Temple (realm)
The desert realm at the end of The Palisade, where Matthew Saaland arrives after failing to return to the palisade.
Organization
- Project Remus
A fictional survival and dimensional-research project in The Third Machine.
- The Olynthian Society
A social-status organization in The Olynthian.
Vehicle
- Sea Witch
The fictional Wellington aircraft in Dark Peak.