Looking for 90s sci-fi story about a librarian & all-knowing computer

September 8, 2021 7:05 AM

I’m trying to identify a short story that I read as a teen in a US sci-fi magazine in the mid-to-late 1990s. It’s set in contemporary times. A widower librarian comes into work and discovers his research PC has been mysteriously updated and can objectively answer any question.

If he types in a question, it gives the objective truth to any question, even if it’s hidden knowledge. For example, if he were to type “does extraterrestrial life exist", it would give the definitive truth, even if no one on earth is able to know that for certain. (I don’t recall if that is an actual example from the story, just providing it as illustration.) At the end of the story, he asks where his wife is, intending to know if there is an afterlife, and if so, where she is. Instead, it tells him something to the effect of “right here". A woman interrupts him for assistance—the implication being they will fall in love and she is his future wife.

posted by kaisemic to Writing & Language (3 answers total)

Someone asked a similar question on sci-fi Stack Exchange. No one knew the answer, but maybe the other question will jog more memories.
posted by crone islander at 9:29 PM on September 8, 2021

Response by poster: Thanks, for the tip! May have to trawl through isfdb.org for the two magazines mentioned and see if anything comes to light...
posted by kaisemic at 6:46 AM on September 9, 2021

I’m pretty sure this isn’t right, but it sounds as if it was inspired by A Logic Named Joe.
posted by LizardBreath at 11:37 AM on September 10, 2021