Yang

In "Saying Goodbye to Yang," Yang is a robot that has been designed to provide comfort, friendship, and information to people. Yang is purchased for a family with a daughter who has been adopted from China. Yang comes programmed to look Chinese and contains information about Chinese culture, history, and fun facts.

The owner used to try taking Yang to baseball games, but Yang lacks emotional feedback like that of a human. He enjoys collecting bugs that he finds under the bug zapper. Yang malfunctions one morning. His owner quickly shuts him down, but Yang is an old model and cannot be repaired. The owner has Yang disassembled and buries his body in the backyard. However, the owner keeps his voice box and computer so that the adopted daughter can continue to have her brother around.

Adam Woods

Adam appears in the short story "The Cartographers." He is...