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"The Tale of Ak and Humanity" is a Tor.com Original from sci-fi author Yefim Zozula.
Citizens are distraught to learn of the latest decree from their leaders: each person is to be evaluated as to whether they deserve to live. Those found "unnecessary for life" will be asked to "leave life within 24 hours."
Panic is alleviated when citizens learn that Ak, "a luminous person," will be in charge of the panels that are to evaluate citizens. Surely, only the "human rubbish" would be eliminated.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Alex Shvartsman
Translated by
Alex Shvartsman is the author of over 120 short stories, published in Analog, Nature, Strange Horizons, and elsewhere. He won the WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction in 2014 and was a two-time finalist (2015 & 2017) for the Canopus Award for Excellence in Interstellar Fiction. His translations have appeared in F&SF, Apex, and Samovar. Alex has edited over a dozen anthologies, including the Unidentified Funny Objects series, and is the editor-in-chief of Future Science Fiction Digest.
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