Showing results for "Variety" in Short Stories

In a desolate future ravaged by nuclear war, humanity faces its own worst creation—machines that think, adapt, and kill. Second Variety by Philip K. Dick is a chilling sci-fi novella that explores the horrifying consequences of unchecked technological advancement. The United Nations and Soviet Union are locked in a cold, crumbling war, but the true enemy is no longer human. Enter Major Joseph Hendricks, a weary soldier tasked with a final negotiation—but what he finds on the other side of the battlefield isn’t diplomacy. It’s evolution.

UN forces have retreated to a moon base in the aftermath of early Soviet victories in a nuclear conflict. In response, the UN forces developed special robots, called "Claws", which feature spinning blades and rudimentary artificial intelligence. Six years later, the Soviet leadership asks for negotiations to end the war. A UN officer travels back to earth to discover that not only have the Claws learned to replicate themselves, they have also created a much deadlier cyborg that threatens humanity itself.