A pilot on a one-man ship in a space battle repeatedly lives backward through fifteen seconds and then forward again with the chance to do things differently each time.
—Michael Main
Ignoring this, I sit down at the table to pick up a cup and spit calding hot coffee into it. Then I proceed to vomit food onto my plate so I can sculpt it with a knife and fork into peas, carrots, and omelette.

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Variants

(2)
  1. “Effect and Cause” by Ken Liu, in Galaxy’s Edge #2, May 2013 [print · e-zine · webzine].
    2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Ken Liu
  2. audio reading.
    “Effect and Cause” by Ken Liu, from StarShipSofa #321, 21 January 2014) [podcast].
    3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Ken Liu
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . narrated by Josh Roseman