Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"The answer to the problem of information overload on the Net is reputations… engineer a system called a reputation server."
- Neal Stephenson
 |
| Index Rating | ||
| Understanding what you should do (or not do) is part of the test. |
Gemini Cavendish found himself at the Arnold Reestablishment Workshop, in an empty room with a neon sign that said "Home".
| "...I am required by regulation to inform you of certain facts. The Arnold Reestablishment Workshop was designed and constructed with a single purpose in mind: To take boys and girls of low birth and through revolutionary teaching techniques, reestablish them within the format of Arnold's Vast Scheme. Here at the Arnold Reestablishment Workshop, your single most important product is your Index Rating. Watch it, conserve it, and with all due effort, raise it. If at any time your Rating indicates a lack of reestablishment on your part, you will be classified as waste and disposed of in the proper fashion. This is not a common occurrence. In fact, among children of relatively high birth, such as yourself, it is a very rare one indeed. The more likely event is your graduation from the Workshop at the age of eighteen, your Index Rating flying haughtily in the breeze, an important cogship awaiting you within the Scheme...”
“It’s sort of like a school then, ” said Gemini. “No,” said the spirit. “It is not like a school.’ It is not at all ‘like a school.’ “But you said something about — ” “That will be enough,” said the spirit. ”It is my duty to inform you that your Index Rating has just declined to a personal low of 4.77. I would suggest personal contemplation of these events, and total utilization of any insights for future guidance.” “These are your permanent quarters,” said one of the attaches. “Your bed’s the fifth one down, on the left. You’ll see your nameplate. When the bell rings, you jump. Got it?” Gemini nodded, and the attaches left. He walked down the narrow center aisle and counted bunks. When he reached the fifth bed on the left, he stopped. His name jumped out at him in dazzling red letters. Below the name, in flashing orange neon, was a number — 4.77. Gemini sat down on the bunk and folded his hands in his lap. |
| Technovelgy from Gemini Cavendish,
by Gordon Eklund. Published by Amazing Stories in 1971 Additional resources -
|
Compare this to the sentenced man from Robot Justice (1959) by Harry Harrison, Jack Vance's social credit system, called strakh from The Moon Moth (1976) and whuffie from Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, by Cory Doctorow, published by Tor in 2003.
Thanks to SFFAudio for pointing out this story; don't miss his site full of podcasts and public domain works.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Gemini Cavendish
More Ideas
and Technology by Gordon Eklund
Tech news articles related to Gemini Cavendish
Tech news articles related to works by Gordon Eklund
| Warfare Goes Underground In Ukraine |
| The Wind Phone Calls Those Who Have Passed On |
| Instant Journalists: Ordinary People With Cell Phones |
| Meta's Horizon Studio's Unique Avatars From Text Prompts |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'Wandering mines, you took them out on the edge of the desert, set them down and activated them.'
'Once in the very first weeks of the war, before everyone had been evacuated from the surface...'
'For a while your colonists will have to come up to the [orbital] Hospital...'
'...it raised its front end off the ground and waved its antennae at them, then raised one armoured claw as if to snip them out of the sky.'
'Henry... assumed the curious absent look of a robot talking on the TBR circuits.'
'The king, an old hand in the running of tyrannies, instantly grasped the directions...'
