-- Subtitle --

There is friendship... and then there is ignorance.

-- Description --

Veil of Ignorance is a twenty-five minute audio story by David Barr Kirtley, and was recommended for a Nebula Award.

-- Excerpt --

Something strange is happening to me.

We’re at Conrad’s vacation house, a sprawling mansion that orbits the gas giant Hades-3. (His father owns both the house and the planet.) Conrad is in the living room watching sports. His girlfriend Alyssa is standing by the mirror in the bathroom, fixing her hair. Her friend Kat is sitting near the bay windows, watching the stars and the roiling vermeil clouds on the world below. Dillon is in the kitchen, mixing drinks. Brad is slouched on the sofa, watching everyone with a lazy smile.

And I don’t know which of them I am.

-- Author's Comments --

"I got the idea for "Veil of Ignorance" several years ago, during an undergraduate political theory seminar, but I couldn't figure out how to make the story work. Then I thought of using the shifting first-person viewpoint, and everything fell into place, except for the ending, which I felt ambivalent about. When I showed the story to James Gunn's workshop in 2003, the group agreed that the story needed a stronger ending. I had one night to come up with something new. I racked my brain, and was very pleased with the new twist I was able to add."

(David Barr Kirtley)

-- Credits --

Written by David Barr KirtleyPerformed by Rick JelinekArt by Jose Garcia LopezMusic by James Guymon

Produced by MechMuse Audio Anthology at MechMuse.com

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