Arvies Imagines a World Ruled by Fetuses

Adam-Troy Castro's story "Arvies," first published in the August 2010 issue of Lightspeed magazine, imagines a society that believes only fetuses have souls. One consequence of this is that it's normal for people to use advanced technology to never leave the womb. "There are two kinds of people in that story--fetuses and the'arvies,' which they ride around in and have fun and replace regularly," Castro says in Episode 519 of the Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast. "[The story] bounces back and forth between the point of view of one of these fetuses and those where you go to the basically mindless woman--by design--whose fate is to carry her around." "Arvies" was a huge hit for Castro, winning the 2011 Million Writers Award for best short story and appearing in books such as Nebula Awards Showcase: 2012 and The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy: 2011.