Written by Kathleen Aton-Osias, a four-time recipient of the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award in Literature, “The James Machine” is her latest winning entry, bagging first place in the short story category during the 69th annual Palanca awards last November 2019. The story was also published through Clarkesworld, a Hugo award-winning science fiction magazine.

The story is set in a near-futuristic world, a world where artificial intelligence exists. We follow the journey of Cat as she tries to cope with the loss of her husband James, and the A.I. he created and left behind, simply called “James Machine” or JM for short.

JM was created using everything they could from James’ life: from his social media accounts, to journals he kept, as well as memories he still remembered. Cat and James worked hard to create JM, something that could embody James and something to keep Cat company after his cancer takes him.

The plot itself is similar to a lot of preexisting stories about A.I. based on a human being, with two popular examples being the 2014 Sci-Fi film Transcendence, and an episode from the dystopian TV series Black Mirror titled “Be Right Back.” However, Osias tries to focus more on the emotional repercussions of living with a loved one who isn’t really there. The story is one that places you in the shoes of the main character, making you constantly question what you’d do if you were put in the same situation, and the story weaves its way into your thoughts, showing you that sometimes emotion defies logic.

The author creatively uses breakers in the story, imitating the titles of various news and feature articles, and separating different points in the story while subtly hinting at what’s to come. While the story is filled with different Filipino terms, and references products or even places in the country, the story feels very Americanized; in the way that the world is described and the way Cat interacts with everything around her. It’s pretty clear that the story was aimed at international audiences with its cookie-cutter setting, if it wasn’t for some of the references to the Philippines, it would feel like the story could be taking place anywhere in the world.

The story has some touching moments between Cat and JM, with many points in the story making you feel for both the characters, leaving you completely invested in what all of it is leading towards. But it doesn’t make up for the lack of unique storylines, and the complete absence of depth in the characters involved; the story is very shallow and predictable, but it still builds enough faith in you that you want to finish reading—only to leave you at a conclusion that is questionable at best.

Still, Osias’ story deserves credit for what it does accomplish: building a believable world, with characters that we can understand and associate with easily, and creating a journey of love and loss all from the comfort of Cat and James’ home.

“The James Machine” was also published on Clarkesworld, you can read it here.