Titles

A very long time ago, we subscribed to a series of collected scifi stories. In the previous century sense of a long time ago. They arrived monthly in the form of a paperback that contained seven or eight short stories. For some reason the titles of three of those stories hangs with me. The common thread they share is that they lapse over the line into horror, which is a genre I do not enjoy. The first two portray details of a dystopian future while the last one could occur around any corner in any city right now. Or last week. Or next week.

The Verts Get a Nuke The Verts decide they wish to acquire a nuclear bomb to defend themselves. A salesman arrives with the nuke and tells them how the thing works. But things aren't as straightforward as you might think. The catch is that the code used to activate the device will be tattooed on the inside of the aorta of one of their children. In order to bomb an enemy, they must first choose to sacrifice one of their own, an innocent child. 

Permanent Hook-up A regular fella walks into a futuristic arcade. After paying he goes into a small room where he sits and leans forward into a viewer. He grips the handles and places his feet on a platform. What he is watching through the viewer he can participate in by moving his hands and feet. Sort of a virtual experience. To his shock and horror, maintenance workers enter the room and mistakenly give him a permanent hook-up, cutting into his nerves and muscles to provide better contact, so he remains in that virtual experience for the rest of his natural life.

Family Dentistry A guy walking down the street who has a tooth that is bothering him sees a sign above a door reading "Family Dentistry". He goes inside and is taken back to an operatory where he meets the dentist. He is numbed up for the procedure and everything goes well. While he is still woozy from the gas he becomes aware that he has been strapped down to the chair and cannot get up. Then the rest of the family comes in, the wife and kids, and continue to poke and prod him with sharp instruments even while the anesthetic is fading.