Online čitanka četvrtkom: Mary Robinette Kowal

Evil Robot Monkey je za Huga bio nominiran 2008 . Ova kratka priča je nabijena sadržajem, i mnogo govori o našem poimanju inteligencije i ljudskosti.

Sliding his hands over the clay, Sly relished the moisture oozing around his fingers. The clay matted down the hair on the back of his hands making them look almost human. He turned the potter’s wheel with his prehensile feet as he shaped the vase. Pinching the clay between his fingers he lifted the wall of the vase, spinning it higher.

Someone banged on the window of his pen. Sly jumped and then screamed as the vase collapsed under its own weight. He spun and hurled it at the picture window like feces. The clay spattered against the Plexiglas, sliding down the window.

In the courtyard beyond the glass, a group of school kids leapt back, laughing. One of them swung his arms aping Sly crudely. Sly bared his teeth, knowing these people would take it as a grin, but he meant it as a threat.

For Want of a Nail je u užem izboru za Huga ove godine. Naslov je u stvari poslovica koja govori velikim posljedicama malih problema, dok priča mnogo toga govori o ovisnosti ljudi o tehnologiji. Upoznajte umetnu inteligenciju koja je član obitelji na generacijskom brodu…

With one hand, Rava adjusted the VR interface glasses where they bit into the bridge of her nose, while she kept her other hand buried in Cordelia’s innards. There was scant room to get the f lexible shaft of a mono-lens and her hand through the access hatch in the AI’s chassis. From the next compartment, drums and laughter bled through the plastic walls of the ship, indicating her sister’s conception party was still in full swing.

With only a single camera attached, the interface glasses didn’t give Rava depth perception as she struggled to replug the transmitter cable. The chassis had not been designed to need repair. At all. It had been designed to last hundreds of years without an upgrade.

If Rava couldn’t get the cable plugged in and working, Cordelia wouldn’t be able to download backups of herself to her long-term memory. She couldn’t store more than a week at a time in active memory. It would be the same as a slow death sentence.

Što će sve ambiciozni čelist žrtvovati da bi vratio izgubljenu ruku i karijeru? U priči For Sollo Cello, op 12 iz 2007.  nema vraga koji kupuje duše, ali izbor je svejedno težak, i sa posljedicam se treba nositi.

His keys dropped, rattling on the parquet floor. Julius stared at them, unwilling to look at the bandaged stump where two weeks ago his left hand had been. He should be used to it by now. He should not still be trying to pass things from his right hand to his left. But it still felt as if his hand were there.

The shaking began again, a tremelo building in his hand and knees. Julius pressed his right hand — his only hand — against his mouth so he did not vomit on the floor. Reaching for calm, he imagined playing through Belparda’s Étude no. 1. It focussed on bowing, on the right hand. Forget the left. When he was eight, Julius had learned it on a cello as big as he had been. The remembered bounce of the bow against the strings pulsed in his right hand. Don’t think about the fingering.

Neki su priču Clockwork Chickadee iz 2008. opisali rečenicom Hans Christian Anderson meets steampunk Santa workshop (when the elves are away . . .). Ovo je samo na prvi pogled dječja priča, i likov u njoj su vrlo promišljeni¹.

The clockwork chickadee was not as pretty as the nightingale. But she did not mind. She pecked the floor when she was wound, looking for invisible bugs. And when she was not wound, she cocked her head and glared at the sparrow, whom she loathed with every tooth on every gear in her pressed-tin body.

The sparrow could fly.

Za kraj ostavljamo jednu kratku horror priču mračnog ugođaja. Prayer at Dark River je čovjekovo obraćanje Bogu u potrazi za odgovorom kojeg se boji. Da li mu je vjera dosta jaka?

Dear Lord in Heaven, O Merciful Father.

Always I have turned to You in prayer when frightened and my first instinct tonight was to kneel upon these old flagstones and beseech you for guidance. My other choice would be to commune with Professor Webb as we wait to see if his sorcery has had effect. Should I pray the American sorcerer has succeeded, so that Guðrun is safe, or should I pray that he fails?

If he succeeds, it means that his power is greater than Yours. “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

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Nimrod

Mihaela Marija Perković je glavna urednica NOSF magazina, prevoditeljica, novinarka i koordinatorica odnosa s javnošću. Aktivna je članica društva SFera i predsjednica žirija za dodjelu nagrada SFERA.

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1. Drugi opis koji se spominje je Clockwork Keyser Söze. Radoznali ste?[↩]