Larry Constantine, well-known pioneer of computer software, writes science fiction. So do a lot of his colleagues, the programmers, analysts, engineers, and managers who are shaping the computer-driven future taking form in labs and programming shops around the world. This is their collection, not an anthology of "computer science" fiction, but diverse stories joined by a common thread; the desire to challenge the boundaries of human thought and to define and explore future possibilities. You don't have to be a programmer to enjoy these stories. They're stories of human passion and revenge, of liberation and entrapment, stories of whimsy and stories of darker possibilities. Here you'll get a fresh look at friendship through the eyes of a robot planetary explorer "programmed" to be flexible and resourceful, then sent on a long and lonely mission. You'll see corporate rivalry carried to an imaginative new plane. You'll listen in on the angst-ridden philosophizing of a biotech computer and play games with a zoo-full of animals that are not what they seem to be. You'll step into the shoes of some of tomorrow's harried parents reaching for a technological fix for impossible demands of jobs and children. You'll search for love and fulfillment when any fantasy can be made virtual reality and companionship comes in the shape of a computer - for a fee, of course.