2013/09/20 [PF #281] - See also 'The Key to Chaos' by Edward Mackin

[joshofspam]

I have not seen it myself.

But Judging how Merle is smashing things while money falls from the sky. I'd have to say it involves inner workings of ones mind and ones dreams to unlocking ones own desires and Merle loves the thought of riches falling from the sky as she breaks other peoples stuff. Or is the marble a symbol of breaking away from traditional things? Hmmmmmmm...

She certainly seems to be enjoying the dream. Is that an image of a raiding party charging into a town on the marble?

[Tapewolf]

He adjusted the controls again, and I watched the tiny, global arena light up.  There was a swirl of dust that suddenly became a recognisable scene, and I gazed almost open-mouthed at what followed.
If this was my secret id-wish then I should have been born into a sultanship or something of the kind.  At least I had a nice taste in women; but I was prepared to accept that I was a lecher and a glutton.  In fact, I had always prided myself on being a gentleman and a gourmet.  It came as a shock to see myself squatting on a throne of gold and tearing at what looked like half a sheep, with the grease running down my chin, while a dozen girls swarmed around me dressed in diaphanous garments that left very little to the imagination.

I took the skull-cap pickup off and turned to Tetchum.  "Very interesting," I said.  "You insulting swine!"

"Don't get so upset," he grinned, "you should have seen Benson's."  He pressed a button marked Repeat and looked into the lens.  Then he glanced at the meters on the control panel.  "Slight over-bias, " he said.  "I should have adjusted that.  Still, not to worry.  Yours is a quite normal sort of id-wish.   You must remember that the id is an untamed savage.  I think yours came out of it very well.  I'm sorry I can't show you Benson's.  He had me wipe it off the tape.  Part of it was where he was smashing up the Elgin Marbles with a fifty-six pound sledgehammer while it rained gold pieces.  The rest was even crazier.  His id is probably mad."

--The Key to Chaos, Edward Mackin (1964)   New Writings in SF, #1

[joshofspam]

Oooh, so it's not just an interpretation what was said in the book, but an entire scene taking from a story. Great homage to the story. I'm interested in that book now even more.

I must say, you and Merle captured the scene very well.

[Tapewolf]

Edward Mackin wrote a series of amusing short stories about a top-flight computer engineer called Hek Belov, who struggled to make a living in a future where practically everything was self-repairing.  As a result, he tended to wind up with rather shady jobs that no-one else would touch.

'The Key to Chaos' was one of my favourites - while drunk, and ostensibly programming the semi-sentient production computer to build dream-viewers, he instead programs it to produce a device that would make humans happy, and it taps into some kind of elemental force in order to achieve this.

I later had a similar experience at university while trying to program in Smalltalk - my program wound up similarly useless after whatever magic was making it work 'went down some kind of cross-dimensional drain'.

[Eboreg]

You know, I'm somewhat inclined to question the wisdom of working at a 'cubi-only job while living at a strongly anti-creature city.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

You know, I'm somewhat inclined to question the wisdom of working at a 'cubi-only job while living at a strongly anti-creature city.

That had occurred to me. I was laying low and waiting to see what happened next...

[joshofspam]

You know, I'm somewhat inclined to question the wisdom of working at a 'cubi-only job while living at a strongly anti-creature city.

That had occurred to me. I was laying low and waiting to see what happened next...

Well it is a fair point.

Though that's why she changed her form, it still comes back to where she lives. There's a lot hat could go wrong there in that kind of arrangement. Old enemies, A random opportunist Adventurer, a random bystander's catching her in changing or knowing enough of clan marks.

[Tapewolf]

Though that's why she changed her form, it still comes back to where she lives. There's a lot hat could go wrong there in that kind of arrangement. Old enemies, A random opportunist Adventurer, a random bystander's catching her in changing or knowing enough of clan marks.

Salomere's clan mark is on her foot, which is why she always wears socks, stockings, boots and the like.

FWIW while she's in commuting distance of the Creature-run City, chances are not many people would travel between the two very much.

Where they live is pretty good defence against hostile Jyraneth and their allies, but it does introduce other problems as has been mentioned in this thread.