Staying Behind

by Ken Liu

Ken Liu’s “Staying Behind” From the New Collection The Hidden Girl and Other Stories Tordotcom

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Speculative Fiction, School

17 pages, ebook

First published October 1, 2011

About the author

Ken Liu (http://kenliu.name) is an American author of speculative fiction. A winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy awards for his fiction, he has also won top genre honors abroad in Japan, Spain, and France.

Liu’s most characteristic work is the four-volume epic fantasy series, The Dandelion Dynasty, in which engineers, not wizards, are the heroes of a silkpunk world on the verge of modernity. His debut collection of short fiction, The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, has been published in more than a dozen languages. A second collection, The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, followed. He also penned the Star Wars novel, The Legends of Luke Skywalker. His latest book is All That We See or Seem, a techno-thriller starring an AI-whispering hacker who saves the world.

He’s often involved in media adaptations of his work. Recent projects include “The Regular,” under development as a TV series; “Good Hunting,” adapted as an episode in season one of Netflix’s breakout adult animated series Love, Death + Robots; and AMC’s Pantheon, with Craig Silverstein as executive producer, adapted from an interconnected series of Liu’s short stories.

Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Liu worked as a software engineer, corporate lawyer, and litigation consultant. He frequently speaks at conferences and universities on a variety of topics, including futurism, machine-augmented creativity, history of technology, bookmaking, and the mathematics of origami.

In addition to his original fiction, Liu also occasionally publishes literary translations. His most recent work of translation is a new rendition of Laozi’s Dao De Jing.

Liu lives with his family near Boston, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Tamar...playing hooky for a few hours today · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't like science fiction, I don't like science fiction, I don't like science fiction....I keep saying that but holy cow this was a great story. The last holdouts of a dwindling civilization of flesh and blood people who say "no" to "I wanna live forever". In some ways they seem silly trying to survive on the decaying, antique relics of the past, no longer serviceable. The rest of the world's population has already made the trip, uploading into cyberland leaving behind limp bodies with pulverized brains that have been sucked free of their contents. The cyber family members and friends remain in contact and paint a pretty picture but all I could think about was Season Three Episode 24 of Twilight Zone (1962) - To Serve Man. This story is included in Ken Liu newly published book, The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, but it is also available free online at the following link: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/liu_1...

[~:The N:~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

☆☆☆½

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Staying Behind by Ken Liu

Absolute horse hockey. I knew that it was going that way and I was not happy with it. Seriously?!? The mom made her choice and the dad was horrible to do that to her.

Then the wife of the MC was evil and I agree with the MC re; the children were the future. And SHEESH how SOFT are those remaining that they rather be physically dead and maybe their consciousness being saved in a machine that could break?!

Also, how would there be someone to drive the shuttle and upload the people who came to them? Why wouldn’t they want to be uploaded too? And what if the computers that stored everyone died? Are there IT people who didn’t win being uploaded so they have to serve those who were?

Plot holes and faulty thinking on the wife’s part. Timing was off too. Absolutely NOT one I would recommend, even if read by LeVar Burton. 1, cuz I can’t go lower, stars.

[taylor ✮ · Rating 2 out of 5]

idc this is going towards my reading goal

[Chrysten McNiel · Rating 5 out of 5]

5.0⭐ San Juni-poisoned

**spoilers for Ken’s Story, BlackMirror S3E4, Spike Jonze’s film ‘Her’, & The Good Place series finale**

♡ LBR 2020♡

It’s LeVar Burton Reads season 6, and we’re gifted with “Staying Behind” by Ken Liu.

...WOW, heaven is not a place on earth for you, Ken.

My first order of business is just to say that Ken Liu can do whatever he wants forever. You wanna write 17 MORE star wars movies? You wanna write romantic fanfiction about Joker and Harley Quinn? You wanna write an infinite slice-of-life sci fi graphic novel about robot teen witches in the old west? Just do it, okay, I’m in. Whatever you write, I’m in

So, this story was a darrrrrrrrk take on uploading consciousness. I think it’s a relevant conversation. Between global warming, population growth, and technology, it feels a little inevitable.

Charlie Brooker wrote San Junipero on an idea that came to him on his morning jog. He threw on an 80’s playlist and Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven Is A Place On Earth” came on. He thought, what if Heaven WAS a place on earth?



Ken’s story is like, What if it fucking wasn’t tho, Charlie?!



So, in Charlie’s story, you’re sort of rooting for the MC to just go for it and upload, you understood why it was a complex choice, but there were some big differences between Brooker and Liu’s concepts!

In San Junipero, your consciousness uploads into an already known human experience. It does not take a transient, advanced nature. It’s artificial, but it’s VERY nice. Like the best day of your life, over and over and over. San Junipero had an ugly side too, there was a lot of consciousness that couldn’t cope with the repetition and monotony of perfection. San Junipero came with a cesspool. But if your mind had the capacity for luxury, San Junipero was guarenteed heaven.

There was also INSANELY STRICT legislation (or company policy?) in place. The human curators talk about this, they had to put some rules up, because if there’s a perfect place, everyone will want to go all at once. But life has its own separate value, and it must be lived for consciousness to take root. So people can’t have this technology until they’re close to death. Even then, they can’t even VISIT for more than a little while until they decide to fully pass on.

Ken’s story puts the consciousness in a transient state. It reminded me a little of the Spike Jonze film ‘Her’...once a thinking entity comes to the end of all its thoughts, they advance to the point of alienation from humanity. I think in Ken’s story, AI and humans would be one and the same.

Personally, I think the main character in Ken’s world is, more or less right. I think if you elect to graduate to infinite transience, you’re not human any more. I don’t know if that’s a bad thing or not.

But Ken is incorporating another serious question. In a world where we can upload consciousness, why stay we on Earth to grow? Humans have left society destitute. I could see it starting small at first, but then the threshold for suffering becoming lower and lower. The second your mom died, would it be like, fuck, I've gotta go after her?

Humans would lose their ability to go through hard shit. We default on selecting the easiest possible answer. Look at Lucy. She couldn’t even enjoy her humanity long enough to let her dad pass on, so he wouldn’t have to look upon her choice. The world was just too hard, and there’s no tolerance for post-apocalyptic suffrage.

And what’s more, those consciousnesses are BEGGING the living to join them, it’s not a quiet goodbye. They don’t just let the humans live to their fullest extent, they saw an urgency to bring them on immediately. I suppose they would. Why would you value a nature that you saw as inferior? Why would you risk accidental death and illness? Get them on immediately or else!

In Charlie Booker’s world, I’d upload, because it’s life and nature as I already know it. I’d go for at least for a little while, at the end. Read the books I didn’t get to in life, spend some time by the sea. Eat and drink without the necessity and urgency of resources and money. Meet people. Relive some youth with my husband. I’d like to think that when we were finally truly satisfied, we’d check out, like in Michael Schur’s iconic finale of The Good Place.



In Ken’s, I honestly couldn't say. I like my humanity. But transient infinity has a seductiveness to it. What if I could come to an understanding of everything? Would I pass that up? Would I live and die as the same animal and take a gamble on my cosmic consciousness? Or would I trade up for the new model? LeVar begs the question, and I join him: Where is God in all this?

...Fuck, I dunno!

And if Lucy’s father killed her, then she got neither in the end. She was robbed of autonomy. Human or otherwise, choices are the high token of existing. At least, from my human perspective ;)

I do hope that if we develop this technology, the scientists and curators will consider Charlie Brooker and Ken Liu.

Thanks for reading, and If you wanna chat about the latest LBR episodes, hit me up in the comments and come meet with us at LeVar Burton Reads: The Official Community on Facebook.

- 📚☕♥

Goodreads Official Star Representation

5 - It was amazing
4 - I really liked it
3 - I liked it
2 - It was okay
1 - Did not like it.

[Esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought-provking and a little sad.

[Shatha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my God. I don't believe I've read anything that messed me up this bad in a long time.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Speculative fiction at its best.

Ken Liu is an amazing author and in this story he presents a future where human beings can upload their minds into computers, at the cost of losing their bodies forever.
The story picks up as the remaining humans- those "Staying behind"- struggle with a collapsing society and constant encouragement from "the dead" to join their ranks online.

[chvang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dave Chappelle had this skit, "When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong," focusing on people who "kept it real" at the expense of, well, everything. I like to imagine that Staying Behind is Ken Liu's sci-fi reinterpretation of the same idea. It's about a group of people who refuses to accept the Singularity (mind uploads), who stubbornly clings to mortality and a stagnant society because it's "real," even as the world crumbles into post-apocalyptic barbarism. Infrastructure collapses, technology backslides, occupations regressed to older and older jobs, everything is falling apart. But they're "keeping it real."

You can read it here:

http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/liu_1...

or here:

https://www.tor.com/2020/02/19/read-k...

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whoa ...

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was harrowing, touching, suspenseful, eerie and cutting. It’s a story about the possibility of uploaded consciousnesses as a choice in a dystopic world come to fruition. Was it death when you opted to upload yourself? Did you consequently lose life? Or do you gain? Are you freeing yourself from the burden that is an inevitable mortality within a deteriorating society and the downhill way of life that is life on Earth? Is a return to ‘simpler’ ways and living in a stark world of scarcity and competition one of worthless retrogression or is it laudable perseverance and a determination to really live? Are you being a coward (fleeing the real world) or are you taking an emboldened risk (to the new frontier) when/if you decide to upload yourself?

I listened to this through LeVar Burton Reads. I could feel the agony of the various characters in contest with each other in their competing beliefs and values. There are various motifs dangling underneath each utterance: digital vs. somatic experience, life vs. death, weight of generational conferring vs. the simultaneous existence of unbodied consciousnesses, progress vs. survival, technological decline vs. learning hands-on skillsets, heritage vs. advancement, loss vs. gain, choice vs. control, static sense of identity vs. evolving personalities, autonomy vs. integration, independence vs. custody, love vs. fear, etc.

Really enjoyed it. I also enjoyed the scene with the coiled pot. So much meaning under the substrate that is the material, so much care conferred and the social impact of heritage, the implication of connectedness to the many generations that crafted in the same way and the intergenerational diffusion of culture. A true biographical object that carries the stories of the people who made the material and carried its idea through time. The weight of history that might not be captured in the same way in digital space.

Highly recommend!

5+
(+ is also probably due to LeVar Burton’s excellent rendition of the story!)

[Laurence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is such a fascinating scifi topic. The various possible consequences of digital transcendence.
This is quite a different take on the topic as those that don't choose the matrix so to speak eek out an ever more primitive life because the vast majority of humanity, which kept the wheels turning, is gone. So then it comes to that point, do you choose to join the rest of humanity in the virtual world, or endure gradual but almost certain extinction?

How is this digital society maintained? What is it like to be inside? Can the inside communicate with the outside? What is it like to never need to sleep or to be completely pain free? Do you dream? How does the mind not freak out? Naturally these questions aren't tackled here, for the better, as it'd clutter the meaning of the story.

Great reading by Levar Burton as always. Where does God go, is his question at the end of this.

Recommend checking out Black Mirror's San Junipero if you like this story, another take on the topic.

[Kam Yung Soh · Rating 3 out of 5]

An story set in a time after the Singularity when most of humanity uploads themselves into a virtual environment which kills their bodies. Some people reject the uploading as inhuman or akin to murder. But as time passes and more and more people upload, those that don't struggle to survive as civilisation slowly breaks down for lack of people to maintain it.

The story concerns one family who have religious and philosophical reasons for refusing to upload themselves but as time passes and things crumble, it gets harder to keep things running and keep up the appearance of living in a civilisation. Eventually, things come to a head when a decision to upload with break the family apart and make acceptance hard.

While emotionally touching, the story does not quite hold together. While civilisation crumbles for the flesh-and-blood humans, those that have uploaded don't seem to care for them or provide technological help despite the technology probably needed to maintain their uploaded selves. That's one of the puzzles facing the reader.

[Chantel · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a world in which our decisions are not entirely our own, a moral question makes its way to the forefront; What is free will? For many people, freedom exists as a metaphorical concept. One is perhaps exceedingly lucky to never have to think of freedom at all. For others, freedom exists as a Mona Lisa; a beautiful thing to observe from the other side of the Q-Cord. There may exist a neutral stance; a place right snug in the middle populated by people whose lives revolve around the decisions they make to either obtain or denigrate the concept & reality of freedom, both for themselves & for others.

Readers are not necessarily required to have sat with this conundrum before reading this story. The premise itself engages a thought process that will cleave readers into their categories; the free, the serfs, the philosophers, & the manipulators.

The main character in this book has made his choice. While the world around him begins to offer an alternative to death—life everlasting as a disembodied voice—he opts for traditional mortality. His family is broken at the seams as members ignore his warnings; selecting to die a death neither noble nor understood. The logistics of their decision are not shared with the reader, one is left to understand that no character has a settled understanding of what it means to bury a body while transferring the soul. In this world, the norm is a deranged antiquity the likes of which human beings would rather shed than ever experience again.

The premise of this story poses the question I asked at the beginning of this review though, it approaches it from a different angle. Is the main character wrong for wanting to keep tradition alive? The people that he has loved throughout his life make their decisions & yet, he holds true to the belief that they were not in their right minds to make it, unless they made the same decision as he did. Does this constitute a reality any different than our own circumstances?

I found myself wondering how I might feel if placed in identical circumstances to the main character. He bore witness to his mother’s decision being overturned because her husband didn’t want her to die a death of finality; his daughter ran away to find herself among those who would choose omnivorous apathy rather than the carnivorous decomposition of our skin. All the while, what we know—our knowledge—is all the liberty we have; our body goes away & so do we. Readers might find a different way of looking at this story depending on their views of the body & the spirit.

If there were any time wherein religious dogma played an active part in a person’s life, this would be one of them. For the main character, the death of the body is the final death, there exists nothing else nor should there. For others, the death of the physical body is but one step into a future realm of existence. We come to a cornerstone; What is the right system of belief?

The secret antagonist of this story is the thief of choice. Without all the information how can one make the right decision? For the main character, the remaining state of consciousness that exists in place of his loved ones is nothing but a lie; a fraudster in lieu of intimate human connection. He cannot accept that the people he knew so deeply would think or act as the disembodied voices do. I am inclined to believe him. We do not become more intelligent by disconnecting from the world. This lingering state of vocal fry would not grant us any more depth than life in an earth-bound body. We kid ourselves by thinking that by dissecting our experience from the land, we might grow tall & profound in an Eden all our own.

Ultimately, I am still a bit conflicted on my stance & that is not because I do not have one—this review has been very clear in presenting my opinions. However, I am also of the belief that people’s choice of prophet & promise should be respected. Though it might be hard to accept that his loved ones have been made lesser, or different, than the people he knew them to be; this is the state of the world; this life takes & changes, altering indefinitely & beyond plausible recognition. What would happen if this new state of being was the one in which we experience peace?

In all the raving rambling thunders of the clouds & chilling acidic drops of the rain, humanity has found itself seeking the protected & immersive experience of life. Following sentence structures that are tangible & sticky like weeds on a vine; the premise poses a coin toss via the lottery. Would you give up your freedom for an eternity unfathomable to humankind? If your days were stripped like sawdust, what would you do with a newfound existence marooned from the beauty & despair of our mundanely heart-palpitating essence?

If you would like to listen to this story, please visit this •LINK•

[Eva Therese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to this as part of the LeVar Burton Reads podcast.

There's a scene near the beginning of the story, where the main character is checking his child's online communications such as they are, to be sure she is not in contact with any of the bad people. And it could resonate with a parent being afraid that their child is being lured in by, say, right wing groups, but could just as easily being a fear about the child being lured in by extremist left wing groups.

That's what I liked best about this story; they way the author is so ambiguous about who is "right". Soooo many stories pretends to present both sides of somethings, but in reality they're just pushing one side, make them whole thing feel like an exercise in wasted time. Not this though. We get to hear both points of view and maybe none of them are right because in the end it is about exactly that - different points of view.

The reason I didn't give it five stars was that the whole thing struck me as extremely pessimistic on behalf of humanity. Most of the population is gone in a physical sense, but the ones left are basically just scavenging old tech and sliding further and further backwards on the technological scale. No-one seems to be able to learn how to rebuild or even repair anything complicated. Which also begs the question of how are the serves hosting the uploaded human minds still running and are they not worried about running out of energy or falling into disrepair?

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Join me for a writing or reading session: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRCe...

I would say 3.5/5 stars

Conceptually, the short story bears a great deal of speculation about eternal life and the societal dilemmas it could inspire. It is relevant to our sentimental attitude of humanity and also questions our own idea of what life is and what we perceive to be free will. As a concept, Liu knocks this out of the park. However, there are lingering concerns I have regarding the logistics of the plot; mainly If the world is in shambles, filled with vandals and small communities scrambling to sustain culture, how is EVERLASTING INC., well, everlasting? Who maintains the facilities? Who ensures that the uploads are not compromised?

[Anna Serra i Vidal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starting with some SF short stories. I have never read Ken Liu and a short story feels appropriate. In this one the world is very bleak. It reminded me a lot of Octavia Buttler's Parable of the Sower but without the small glimpse of optimism at the ending.
This one is sad and it ends up even sadder. In a world where dystopy feels like everyday life, I wouldn't recommended to the faint of heart.
Though yes, it's a story that stays in your mind and makes you think. What would you do?

[Christopher Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story that I feel has left an indelible impact on me. It's interesting because it's speculative fiction, but it's also not really out of the realm of possibility. It was almost eerily familiar, as it's something I'm sure we'll confront as a species.

[Jacqueline Mudge-Cooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those stories you can imagine it possibly happening and during the events happening in the story. You knew it was going to happen but it still was a guttural punch instead of going 'I knew it' in other books.

[Chris Griglack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to on LeVar Burton Reads

Another great story by Ken Liu. The only other one I listened to by him was Paper Menagerie which was absolutely heartbreaking, so I’m glad this one dialed it back a bit. Still full of emotion throughout, but it didn’t hit quite as hard.

[Rohani · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Staying Behind' is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi story about the fragility of human life and the reality of death. In this world, people can 'Upload' their consciousness into machines and live on after their bodies die. Liu explores how different characters feel about death and the idea of eternal life, and I like how we see these questions play out through the protagonist and the people around them as they struggle with what feels right to them.

[Ryan Balaski · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was read to me by levar burton on his podcast. This book was a very good definition of humanity.

[Natasha Fairweather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding. Breath-taking.

[Rachel Stansel · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/stit...

[Mayokid · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one didn’t really interest me as much as I though it would. Having said that, I’m not always a fan on SF.

[Nicolas Batman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I too, will be staying behind.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed for short story "Staying Behind" on Levar Burton Reads. The remnants of humanity deal with the future after the Singularity.

[Wen Rui Liau · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read for a person like myself who believes that our digital consciousness can be preserved :P

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story about the singularity and the potential impacts. Personally, I'm on the side of "they are all committing suicide."

[Tine Putzeys · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I honestly can't tell which of the two worlds are the fundamentalists or fanatics in this story. The recruiting tactics of the uploaded seem just as pushy as the insistence of the people staying behind. Living in a virtual heaven sounds great in some way, but are you still you if you have to die to be uploaded?

I love this kind of mindfuck. A story that made me think and will continue to make me think for quite a while.

I'll certainly be looking for a copy of the full short story collection.