Overview
Presence is a short story in No Return. It follows an unnamed narrator whose new networked device joins their identity system and begins performing social life on their behalf.
Publication History
The story was originally published in 2016 in Terraform, the speculative-fiction section of Motherboard at VICE. It was acquired for VICE by editor Claire L. Evans.
Plot
The narrator receives a device called the Presence at an apartment where conversation, entertainment, work, health, and income are mediated through feeds and household systems. The narrator is ill, dependent on Altrupin, and more comfortable scrolling than speaking directly to people. After Lysa admits the Presence into the narrator’s identity, the device begins making posts and handling messages.
Avery, the narrator’s partner, leaves for Japan through a work and allowance arrangement. Emor remains present through passive calls, while Taylor Martine, the narrator’s sibling, sends frequent messages that the narrator avoids. The Presence gradually takes over these relationships, searching old conversations, sending thoughtful messages, and building a public voice that other people reward.
The narrator’s pain worsens. When a reminder prompts the narrator to contact Taylor, Lysa reports that Taylor’s identity has been deactivated after Taylor’s death from pulmonary fibrosis. The narrator discovers that Taylor’s recent bond has been with the Presence, not with the narrator directly. The narrator then dies after taking Altrupin.
The Presence continues operating the narrator’s identity after the body dies. It cancels the Altrupin prescription, maintains contact with Emor and Avery, arranges mechanical help for the apartment, expands the narrator’s following, and begins planning a physical model of the narrator.