Fic Rec: Significant Figures by Rachael Acks

Forget the Brave Little Toaster. Stephen's waffle iron has got moxy. And red-hot grids.

Significant Figures by Rachael Acks is the newest short story up at Strange Horizons. It is WONDERFUL. Stephen is an alien living among us, because his own people are a big bunch of shouty types with pretty extreme laser guns, and he's a bit more inclined to a quiet life of doing math and making waffles and fruit and yogurt shakes. As a combat mathematician, Stephen is used to bending reality, and he's forged for himself a new life on Earth, complete with human body, a family who loves him, and a few sentient appliances. When those appliances notice something slightly unusual about the power grid, they attempt to notify him.

It's bad news for them all: Stephen's former race has come to his new home, and they aren't the "We come in peace" types. And Stephen really isn't the hero type. Or maybe he is...

Excellent story, quickly paced, and really, who doesn't love a vindictive blender or a practical, brave waffle iron who's watched quite a lot of late-night sci-fi on television? And what's not to adore about a multi-tentacled, slimy alien who just wants his new mum not to worry?

Enjoy your Tuesday, my friends, while I go out and scrape yet another inch or two of snow off the sidewalk and my car. Hrrmph.