I'm not quite sure what to make of this one.
I enjoyed it, and because it reminded me of another story that I
think I heard on Escape Pod about people splitting themselves (
I can't for the life of me remember what it was called, and the main bit I do remember was someone sending 1% of themselves to break up with their partner) the concept wasn't too difficult to take on. The transhumanism themes of the personality Forks being unbound by gender or physical form were also a very nice touch.
I'm still not sure how to feel about the main character's attempt at suicide via accepting Emlune's fork into his human body, either.
Destroying the part of himself that pines after her makes sense in the narrative (
and he wouldn't be the first person to behave self-destructively when he realises she's just not that into him), but I can't help but feel that either it damns the part of her that she forked off into the human body to a relatively short lifespan - or, if she splices that fork back into herself, just how much of Percel survives the overwrite and will get absorbed into Emlune in the process?
He's so damn selfish and I'm not sure he even realises it. (
Like, no offense dude, but I think I'm starting to see why
she jumped into a volcano. Just move on already! )
Much like 'This Is As I Wish To Be Restored' (EP443), which also had a main character who wasn't especially likeable due to his obsession with another person, I think this story is one that I'll be pondering for a while... and that isn't a bad thing.