But I Had No Body by Russ Colson

“But I Had No Body” is a 2008 science fiction novelette by Russ Colson. It is about a doctor who implants a tiny computer into the brain of a traumatized patient and how it alters his personality.

Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell:

Sari Mitchel is a doctor who has been waiting for the perfect patient. You know, someone who is brain dead with no hope of recovery. When she receives a call one night informing her of a match she rushes to the hospital to begin the procedure that will put a tiny computer in his brain and hopefully help him get better. Oh, there is that little problem of getting permission from his ex-wife, but that should be easy right? The ex-wife tells Sari about the horrible personality of her patient, but as she helps him recover she is pleasantly surprised by his thoughtfulness and charm. That is until it comes time to turn the computer off. Mwa-ha-ha!

The tiny artificial brain that she had developed could change that. Inserted into a vegetative brain, connected to the surviving neurons, providing intellect and forcing neurons to fire and work, the Theracom—short for therapeutic computer—would raise the human brain back above its death threshold so it could heal. Occupational therapy for the brain. Once the natural brain healed, the artificial brain could be shut down. The person would live again.

My Two Cents:

• The good:

• The idea of using a tiny computer to help the brain recover was pretty dang cool. I wonder how feasible something like that would really be? It’s fun to think about anyway.
• The personality changes that Jack goes through are fun to watch. Perhaps a little bit predictable, but fun none-the-less.
• Ultimately “But I Had No Body” is a story about hope. Hope in medical science, hope in healing and change and hope in love. It is always nice to find a story that is uplifting in that way.

• The bad:

• The only downfall is that parts of this story are kind of predictable – but it is still fun to see the changes happening so don’t let that stop you from reading this great story.

Fact Sheet:
• Page Count: 19
• Word Count: 9,644

Where you can find “But I Had No Body”:

• This novelette first appeared in the August 2008 issue of the online webzine Atom Jack.
• You can read a free HTML version of “But I Had No Body” at Atom Jack’s archive web site.

Craving More Stories?
If you enjoyed this story then you might also like Understand, about a man whose use of an experimental drug makes him super intelligent, by Ted Chiang.

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