PKD Short: The Variable Man.

PKD’s longest novella within this collection is “The Variable Man”. I just finished it yesterday. With the Terran System (our, human being’s system) consistantly growing and expanding, conflict with other empires seems inevitable. Terran is surrounded by the Centaurian Empire; an aging group whose society is crumbling. And maybe because of this, they hold a firm grasp on the space around Terran. Bitter old hags. There’s no way through them; Centauran controls all sides: X, Y, and Z. As populations continue to expand, the human race is forced to stretch further out into the Milky Way Galaxy. Just as they have expanded from the “orgin planets” of yesteryear. An impending war with the Centuarians has been looming over the human race for quite some time. We’ve been waiting for a chance to strike. No President, Council, and Senate will approve of the war, however, without the proper odds in Terran’s favor. The SRB Machines measure this level of probability. They take in any and all current information to concoct these numbers. Finally with a measure of 7-1, in favor of Terran, we can go to war. But the Histro-Department needs its resources NOW. So they manually override the Historic Explorer, feeding in a man from 1914 to the present (2136). Of course, this scrambles the SRB Machines into a frenzy; they do not recognize this variable. Thomas Cole. Borrowed for Terry Gilliam’s “12 Monkeys”. In the end, the variable man rewires Terran’s ultimate weapon: a FLS Bomb set to destroy the Centaurians without them even knowing. The war is averted. But not without its price. This is the beginning of the end for Terran (mankind). As growing population, with declining boundries, forces Terran into an exponential decline. Until we all die off.

-Sonny

~ by sonnywilkins on January 12, 2008.