Short story about a man thwarted and framed by automated support system
Post date: 2023-06-01 07:53:09
Views: 134
Trying to remember a sci-fi story I read decades ago about a man trying to resolve some issue (with tech support?) but is thwarted by the automated system.

Memory of the story is hazy, but here's what I remember:

  • The story is written as the transcript of a series of interactions.
  • I think he's interacting with an automated support system.
  • Had sort of a dystopian Brazil-esque vibe.
  • At one point late in the story, the system gets the man arrested for murder, possibly his own.
  • My most concrete recollection is of an investigator asking about the status of a "victim" and the system responding "Deceased", leading them to erroneously conclude a murder had taken place. (I think that as a result of the man's previously interactions he had managed to get himself declared dead.)

    I think it was implied the system was acting deliberately. My recollection is reading the story decades ago (before 2000), but I'm not 100% sure.
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