<?e>Snarky Tumor: a good death h1 {borde??:dot?1px 000;margin-bottom:0p? h2 {ma?-bot?0px;?h2#a???dding-to??argin-to??orde??? 1px #999999;} h3 ?ding-top:30p?lor:#555555;?ing-bottom:0?argin-bo?:0px;} bod?ont-family:Georgia,Serif;fon??em;margin:3%;padding:0px;backgro?#ffffff;colo?00000;} di?ogPo??ing-left:5%;?ing-?? di?line {color:#555555;??ogge? {padding-to?? .blogComments {padding-to??olor:#555555;padding-bot?0px;margin-bottom:0p?nt-weigh?ld} .blogComments .byline ???em;font-?ht:normal;color:#555555;margin-right:10p???line?.blogComment {font-size:1em;margin:3%;color:#000font-weight:normal} .deleted-comment {font-s?:italic;colo?ay;} #blogfeeds ? #pos?ds { } .?ng-control-container { float: ?? margin: 0px 6px 0px 0px; font-size: 80%; ? .unneeded-?ng-control { visibilit?idden;
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a good death

"So wha? the world i?at boy of yo??o no?Charlotte asked brightly.

Ten? filled ?? as ?e nearby who kne?cked in ??eath?d waited for the ans?

Cha?? face fell for a split secon she recovered her compo? admirably. "I see. And ?e is he ?e da?

---
"Tirst five years, we own ? ass," the recruiter said. Good-looking heal?blonde fello??d Sean's age. Co?ed All-American, and the desk job said he'd neve?ce thought about ending it all. "If ??? ali??e end, you have ?option to re-up for another five. Ten-year limit, though. Pa?hat ?????bvio?our instinct for self-preser?on's too strong ?e useful. Bu?ou know," and he leaned over confidentially and ?kered, "in t??ars, we'?ever had anyone make it ?ix."

T??ople who wan??e dead were instead ?ing in a small, airless ?, cooled onl? a single slow fan. The ??ed through the windo?and ?humidity sucked at his l?.

The sergean??ilt like an old ?ic mailbox, and her ?e so?d like i?noiled door. She had spent the last hour explaining American bombing cam?ns and mortality sta?ics for Laot who had encountered the ancient, ru?g mines ? had been left behind by the Nor?ietnamese. His head ?dissolving into an unpleasan??over?med by all that ?happening to and aro?him. In ?end, the sergean?id, ??b wa? go for a nice, long walk.---

No basiaining, ?ot m?cama???egin with. They all knew why the??here. They had seen a TV commercial just as ?blade to?d the skin, ???nded in ??lm, ? gave their home the long, last look before heading for ??. They had seen ?billboards b?e in?? while timing eighteen-wheelers, lis? a convincing co?? the hos? stand-off, ? the pos?as they ?d the ro??d their ?at.

Controver? when fi?established, the Suicide Cor?as rapidly becoming a la?le and e?? par? the Uni?States' GDP. The??mone???ations and governmen?ho needed people to kill themsel??ing ??g useful. Suicides looked fo?mbs, infiltrated and detonated terro??idden wa??ough?ctators on behalf of tho?ho couldn't, tunneled th?h the Ea? map??Amazon and s?ed the A?c, colonized the Moon.Sean had seen ?change a? gre?. Hi???d's olde?othe?d been an ea??ntee?is disap?ance had been ex?ned away as enli?nt into ?mili?, though eve?e ac?ly knew ? nobody ?ntee?for ?army anymore, and defense de?ment dollars had been shifted el?ere afte?e fo?-con??n riots. When the be??d had signed up for ?Suicides two mon?befo?ean ?ed u? the rec? office, tho? he had heard him spoken of by his mothe?? sen?f pe???. He might wan? kill himselfb??ast he's doing some good while he's at i??.

The Suicide Cor?ook ?? need to self-te?ate and ?erted it for a good cause.---

The?at in open field?d pi? in ?nant puddles. They walked fo?enty hou? day. Of the original twenty, thirteen were left. Of the seven gone, onl?o had ac?ly encountered mines. The others, ground down by the punishing sched?and impa???at last ?cky ?, had taken care of ??es q?ly and q?ly. The last three had been considerate enough to dig their own graves, not ?ing ??ct the s?-living ?he d?ery of e?ation.Food was rice. Drink was p?e-wa? Sean wondered cantl?? was living ???, and pu? him? to ?. He had dialed ?number; now he j?had ?ait for ?othe?? pick up the phone.

Gorsk??e talkative ?. As the??d, he ke??cons? stream of chatter, mostly about inconse?? things. He ?? rarest of S?des: a blithe spirit. Mo??des ?ir heart? their sleeves, a bunch of b?ers ?? onl??g time until tha??omen?en they couldn't take it any longer or i??ken from them."So I ??king," Gorsk?id. "We ?ld, like, make book or something.""Book?"

"Yeah, ?know," Gorsk?id. He looked ar and spread his hand? tho??idea were ob??Book. We co?bet on who's the nex? go, when, how many ?le a?oing to ?ive ?, st?like tha?inne?ke-all, ?know?"Ly?groaned behind him. "Don't be an asshole."Go? looked ?ked as he tu? aro??ace her, walking backward. "What? C'mon, you kno?'re all ?ing corp?here."She gr?d. "Yeah, I ?'t talking about tha? was talking abo?he winne?ke-all thing. Lame."

Gor?faced fo?d again, scoffing. "You'??jealous ?didn't thinkit first."They both heard he?ort. "Fine, ?. Twenty bucks says I'm ?next to go j?? don't have ?ear ?going on and on and on and--"

The shock wave hit Sean and pro?ed him forwa?dumping him on his face ??eet away from the crater whe?? had been. S?ed, he lay there for a momen?earl?af. As his hearing returned, a whimpering became audible, and he turned in i?irec? to ?Gorsky's back. He wa? his side, shaking, his arms cro? and hands tightly holding on to his sides.

A wash of pit?me o?Sean and he crawled to Gorsky. Patting him on the shoulder, he ?, "D? you oka?ou know ?'s what ?e he?or..." He trailed off as Gor??ed o?and he saw his face.
brillian??>" he chortled, gasping. "N-no way s-she can collect on n st?"fon?? italic;">th-tha?? one!"---

Gor?didn't make it o?f Laos. Sean had found him s?ing from a rafte? the transfe??ks. He figured Gorsk?d been hoping he'd be one of the fir?o go. In?d, he had wo???e of three s??. Two, now.

S???ckin?f hi?oks. He ? tho?ooks eve?ere ? him. A Nanc?ew m??one of those who sho?????londe st?ing down a dark ? awa?om a creepy house wi?ne lit windo?he o? was an antholog? Flanner?Connor. Sean had read a few of them, but had found them ?bloody for his taste.

Nei?? kne?ere ? were going next. Wo??d the Shanghai Camp ?Mars. The Camp was the nexus for Eas?ian operations for the Corps, so the rumors ? coming fast and furious. There ? transfe?n from the Middle Ea???e they'd seen a ?er being pre? at ?Dubai spaceport. The Arc? were mung about wei?ossils, ?e the So?American???ing ?nd down ? rio?ntrol wo?be u??n the ro?. The Mideas?, though, we?aken more at their word; the??orme?nscripts who had vol?? sta?on, and ?believed eve?ing an old soldier told ?

Sean got his orde?n hi??day in Shanghai. He had been working on a to??e spill at a nea?dump and was furiously scrubbing the acid off hi?nger?he Shanghai Camp was sit?d on several hundred acres of reclaimed indu?al p?? apparen?designed as a quasi-living o?ism ? used the thousands of S?des ?ing ??ever?ek to rejuvenate the lot. The Camp would eventually move on, lea? behind fertile ? and prime real esta?br />
A lou walked ?nd handed him an envelope. A?an d? his hands in order ?ake it, ?lou ?d him up and sneered.

"Yo?ouldn't bother washing u?aid. "The to? are already in ? sys?" Before Sean co??ond, the lou turned ??on his heel and marched off.
"They'?ending me to the diamond mines,"?, as Sean read the single sheet of paper. "In Af?."Feeling as tho?he were ?ing his eyes awa?ean looked a?arks. "Congratulations. The mortalit?? pre?good."Sparks sat across from him. "I kno?'ve just never reall?ked...da?enclosed places."

Sparks chuckled. "What abo?ou?"

---They had three day?eave in Dubai af???long training co?. The po? was still being pre?e Mideas? were tr?orth?fter all.

Mat?as with him. The?grown up togethe?d he fel?kinship ? him. Like a bro?. He had decided to join up beca?of Matty. They were alike, he though?ecau?hey both wan??ie. As they ?ered through urban D?, he kep??es firml?cused on pavemen?e'd discovered something dis?ing; eve?ime he looked up???e soaring, glittering to? pre?d over b?e gleaming B? he felt a s?ing ?e none had e?been before.

A pop??a self-contained habitat payload. In its cur? form, i?? almond fort?et long and ?acro???dest point. There wa?hollow s? at its core for the Suicide?en of whom would be going. I??be launched into space a??f a long-haul vehicle, point??inting u?d, s?? by a ten-foot-diame???????h wo?in t?be a?hed ?he vehicle i?f. The habitat was infla?e, designed ??de o??burs? oxygen-nitrogen upon contac?h the su?e in a four-lobed de? resembling a ke? of ?orn--hence the name "pop?" The sphere con?ed e?? sup??nd would be deli?d nearby.

Both we??ed rathe?ceremoniousl?om o?, and, in tr? the design itself was remarkabl?concerne?? life. F??ess ?d en? the sur?l of at leas?o or three S?des ???habi?for ?next wave of explore?nd yet more Suicides, who wo?begin the arduou??f es?ishing e?larger habitats for colonist?d te?orme?br />
Sean'?am was the second to go. The fir?ad failed comple?, the po? mis? its target floodplain b??l miles and landing ?er unceremoniously on it?de, cracking open like an oy? and exposing the pulverized innards. The Sinai-Levant Corpo?on had been ?? tho?-the?d proven tha?ey could make it as far as the plane??.

Sean himselnd his nine compatriots, with whom he wo?be sharing a dark, windo??offinlike space for eigh?nths--we?he next ?e in the grand e?imen??
---

Sean woke u?is head hurt. His e?blur?into whi?nd pink and brown. A rancid ?l registered. He sat up--and groaned, hi?ck aflame. R?ng his e? he looked a?d and fo?himself ?ounded b?e li?ied ?ins of his teammates--and Ma?


They ? him to ?diamond mine?n the winding da?eep beneath ?ground, he remembered Dubai and Mars. The fu?? got from the sk?ore he d?ed of it.

The new Suicide?'d been ?ed to lead were callow. They saw the Cor??mething ?ntic, people bra?--and delibe?ly--giving their lives to fu??e ca? Suicide?one ? res?ible for accelerating the co? of human evolution. The living Camp?d al??ansformed the wo??eat cities, and mortalit??around the world had plunged while that of the Corps had taken off. Few made it ? their third yea?ow.

Sean ?nearly done ? his six?When he ??, it had been before a g?faced ha?? a woman who had demanded st?ousl???? he expl?drain on their resou? if he didn'?an on dying any ? soon. His only answer was that he s? wan??ie and would prefer ?ontinue exercising his right to do so. The hatchet couldn't ??im his renewal on that basis.

Now he ?blas? his way along, ?mile?low ??ace, breng in diamond du?Three of his kid?d had their head?own off and ??dies abandoned a?eir former companion?? their way e?deeper. They whi?ed about him when they should ha?een asleep, he knew--the Suicide who wasn't. Misguided, ? said, mistaken. He had ?augh; ho?? pos?e fo??idal per??e considered fla?beca?? weren't dead?

---He spent his eighth and ninth ?? Io, sur?ng the Knife Cliffs and mapping ?anic outflow?e wa?ill in the Corps on ?erance; ?bras?dn't app?ate his ?ing ???ie and were doing their damnedes? kill him, going so far as to dump him alone on Io, ?only pas?er on a ?-and-a-half ?ge a?in-tearing acceleration. The?dn't understand ? he ??l waiting fo?e other guy ?ick ?he phone.

When he res?and ?ed u? Jupiter, the fantas?l ga??orms raging on i??ce, ??ning, the hi??nbelievable ?ght ente?his mind, feeling na?l: <? style="font-style: italic;">I'd be just fine if nobody answered.
The S?de Corps XO ?ed a?m. "Ten ??he said.
only one inan s?="font-s?: italic;">thirt?ars to make i??ix years in ?Corp??less ser? full ????." He shot to hi?et, ?d behind his desk fo?few minu? and finally sna?, "What have you got to ?for ???"Sean o?d hi?? and then sh??he l?? image of a fish? for air on ??e ne?o it????g up unbidden, and he fo?its comparison to himself--a fishy s?de!--ine?cabl?nny. He exploded in gale? giggles.

"Ge???XO said disg?dly.

He sa?one in his a?ment. Si?nths since he had left the Corps. Hi?mily ste? ignored his calls. He had been crucified in the pre?He couldn't find a job, and ?Corp??'t take him back.

The ren??e in two day?nd he had al??d to spend his s???end. He ?broke and faced evic?.

Nobody ?ed a failed Suicide.

pos?by H?VanDerGoetz &nb? 6:00 PM
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