Superbly crafted and strongly affecting, Ken Liu's "The Cleaners" uses nested metaphors to create a powerful effect. The premise, that the accumulated, often disturbing, memories which permeate everyday objects can be scrubbed away, is handled in a way that reminds us not only of the power and indeed necessity of memory, but of our own essential and tragic isolation. In tone and effect, I found the story reminiscent of Bob Shaw's classic SF short, "Light of Other Days." Written in the time of COVID, "The Cleaners" is an honest, unfliching, and deeply resonant piece of short fiction on a par with Liu's best work. Read it.

I loved this short story! It's pretty natural to think of things having memories attached to them (especially after Marie Kondo had me asking each possession whether it sparked joy), and the concept of those memories having a physical manifestation, and the repercussions of that, was really interesting. Combining the concept with great character-based narrative made this a pleasure to read.