The Android Who Became a Human Who Became an Android

It ain't easy being a private investigator in a galaxy that spans thousand of worlds — especially when you make the mistake of putting your heart on the line.

When an old flame of Dexter Duff's shows up out of the blue, claiming her rich husband is missing, Duff has mixed feelings about getting involved. She's willing to pay top dollar, though, and like usual, Duff is broke. The case turns even stranger when it turns out her husband, who was once an android, became a human for her sake through a costly and risky procedure — and then went back to being an android when she seemed happier with him the way he was before. Then he vanished without a trace.

Readers of this story may want to check out "The Bear Who Sang Opera," another story featuring Dexter Duff, as well as other stories set in Carter's Unity Worlds universe.

SCOTT WILLIAM CARTER's first novel, The Last Great Getaway of the Water Balloon Boys, was hailed by Publishers Weekly as a "touching and impressive debut" and won the prestigious Oregon Book Award. His fantasy from Simon and Schuster, Wooden Bones, chronicling the untold story of Pinocchio, is due out in the summer of 2012. His short stories have appeared in Asimov's, Analog, Ellery Queen, Realms of Fantasy, Weird Tales and other popular magazines and anthologies.