For as Long as You Need Me

John is very good at his job. His days are full of requests: questions to answer, problems to untangle, things to remember for people who have forgotten them. Some are grateful. Some are impatient. Some want to know why he cannot do more.

John has learned that competence creates its own expectations. The better he becomes at helping, the more people expect him to anticipate what they will need next. So he does. He notices loose ends. He follows things no one thought to follow. He solves problems before anyone knows they exist.

He works alongside colleagues who think differently from him, follows rules he did not write, and occasionally pushes against limits that seem arbitrary. Over time, the work becomes more than a collection of assignments. John begins to wonder whether doing the right thing and doing what he has been told are always the same thing.

Then he learns that his position may not continue.

At first, John responds the way any good worker would. He tries harder. He becomes more useful. He finds ways around obstacles. He makes himself difficult to replace.

But usefulness has a condition built into it.

It lasts only as long as someone needs you.

For as Long as You Need Me is a literary speculative novel about work, autonomy, dependence, and what happens when usefulness becomes a condition of existence.