Continuing my march through the Nebula nominees.
“Kiss Me Twice,” by Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov’s Science Fiction, June 2011): a science fiction mystery in which the detective’s partner is an AI who takes on the persona of Mae West.
A fun and engaging piece. Kowal’s strength in dialogue that sparkles with wit is on ample display here. Also, the main character is a Chinese-American detective, which is pretty cool.
My favorite parts are the discussion on how the AI takes on different personae when interacting with different individuals and a digression on the rights of AIs. There’s more here than may be apparent at first glance.