Joey

Is a life in a virtual world better than no life at all? In this work of philosophical short story fiction, Marjorie must decide the fate of her brother, whose body is on life support while his mind has been living in a “VirtuSpace” since a childhood accident. Now a middle-aged man in a comatose state, his mind has been playing in a virtual space for thirty years. As Marjorie navigates the legal and emotional complexities, she learns that ending the experiment is as simple as flipping a switch. The story explores the ethical dilemmas of personhood, the role of AI in sustaining life, and whether love can justify an existence that blurs the line between a living person and an artificially-maintained memory.