Emily Howell

“The question,” Cope says, “isn’t whether computers have a soul, but whether humans have a soul.”

Singing for Supper

"It was entirely predictable once Carl Woese realised horizontal gene transfer was a more significant mechanism for change than Darwinian evolution." he said to the shiny black stranger.
"Take the number of your phalanges. Entirely inappropriate for your genus but with the dominant species on the planet having a profound relationship with the number ten, whole ecosystems have undergone what I term decimalisation."
He struggled against his strong bonds as he spoke, trying to find a weak spot he might tear through.
The stranger moved closer.
"The elevation of intelligence is another consequence, helped by easy movement of prion precursors across neural structures. I've written a number of papers that I'd refer you to, given the opportunity and a less delicately poised situation. Perhaps..."
The stranger whispered, rubbing his chelicerae together.
"I hunger. You stop talking. Stop struggling."
It was his last resort.
"Help me. Help me." the human-headed fly cried out, as the ten-legged spider advanced.