Assignment No. 1

Robinett, Stephen. "Assignment No. 1." The Last Dangerous Visions. Harlan Ellison, editor (also J. Michael Straczynski). Ashland, OR: Blackstone Publishing, 2024: pp. 59-68.[1] Also available as an Audible audiobook (2024).[2]

From on-line Utopian Literature in English ...: "The rather poignant story set in 2046 is told from the point of few of a young boy whose adored grandfather has had a number of stroke and whose mother insists that her father-in-law be sent to what is colloquially known as a tank farm (somatorium) where people are kept in individual tanks and are hooked up to a system that allows them to live the best moments of their lives until they die. They can, though, choose to stay awake in their new reality."[3]

Neither the grandfather nor the grandson want the grandfather to become a "floater," and the grandfather strives to stay awake and out of the virtual reality. Relevant here for the coffin-like tanks and "skullcap" that connects the inmates to a computer and a VR world. Cf. and contrast the hibernation chambers in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (film) and novel, and in the ALIEN (film) series. For the tone and disposal of the old, note the conclusion of SOYLENT GREEN (1973);[4] for VR cf. and contrast THE MATRIX.

RDE, finishing, 4Feb25