New Story: MAKET, or, Alternative Endings for Ivan Ivanovich

On the last full day of last year's North American trip, I visited the National Air and Space museum in Washington DC. It was a place that made my inner child-nerd very happy, but one thing in particular caught my eye: a Russian mannequin, named Ivan Ivanovich (which I understand to be the equivalent of John Doe) which was used to test the Vostok spacecraft.

Everything about this exhibit fascinated me, right down to the details like how a recording of a recipe for cabbage soup was included to...