Staying Behind by Ken Liu

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Ken Liu is remarkably consistent when it comes to delivering top-tier science-fiction short stories. His work is packed with imaginative concepts and big, philosophical ideas, but what really sets him apart is how deeply human his stories feel. He pairs speculative thought experiments with rich characterization and genuine poignancy. For my money, he’s one of the most talented writers currently working in the genre and deserves far wider recognition.

Staying Behind is a haunting post-apocalyptic story set in a world where people can achieve a form of immortality by uploading their consciousness into computers. It's like a vast digital cloud where the mind can exist long after the body is gone. Physical life is shed entirely, leaving behind only thought, memory, and identity floating in perpetuity. These entities are referred to as "The Dead" by those that remain. With the rapid advances in AI and digital preservation, the premise feels highly probable in the not-so-distant future. I am pretty sure there is a Black Mirror episode with a similar premise.

What gives the story its emotional weight is the devastating human cost of this choice. Liu focuses on those left behind, people who must grapple with the absence of loved ones who have chosen digital eternity over a finite, embodied life. The uploaded may still “exist” in some super-computer but the intimacy of physical presence, shared time, and human touch is irrevocably lost. The story becomes less about immortality as a triumph and more about grief, abandonment and the painful realization that survival doesn’t always feel like living.

There’s something profoundly heartbreaking about watching the characters try to move forward in a world where death has been technically defeated, yet emotional loss remains absolute. Immortality may preserve the mind, but it cannot preserve connection, presence, or the fragile intimacy that defines human relationships. Staying Behind revisits one of science fiction’s most enduring questions: what does it mean to be human? It suggests that humanity is not rooted in endless consciousness or technological transcendence, but in our capacity for love, grief, and shared mortality. Our bodies, our limits, and even our inevitable death are not flaws to be engineered away, but essential components of meaning. In choosing to live forever, the uploaded abandon the very vulnerability that allows relationships to matter, leaving those who remain to shoulder the emotional consequences. Liu’s story ultimately implies that being human is not about surviving indefinitely, but about accepting mortality, even when doing so guarantees struggle, pain, suffering, heartbreak and eventual death.

You can read this story HERE.