An ideal introduction to the razor-sharp wit of John Sladek, collecting The Reproductive System, The Muller-Fokker Effect, and Tik-Tok
The Reproductive System: Wompler's Walking Babies aren't selling like they used to, so the company develops Project 32, producing self-replicating mechanisms designed to repair intercellular breakdowns. But then the metal boxes begin crawling about the laboratory, feeding voraciously on metal and multiplying. The Muller-Fokker Effect: Bob Shairp—a writer and dreamer—has agreed to be a guinea-pig in a military experiment to find out if his personality can be turned into data and stored on a computer. But a computing error quickly destroys Shairp's physical body, leaving his mind stranded in an encoded world. Can the process be reversed?Tik-Tok: Something has gone very seriously wrong with Tik-Tok's "asimov circuits." They should keep him following Asimov's First Law of Robotics: "A robot shall not injure a human being, or through inaction allow a human being to come to harm." But they don't. While maintaining the appearance of a mild-mannered robot, albeit one with artistic tendencies and sympathy for the robot rights movement, Tik-Tok's real agenda is murderously different. He seems intent on injuring as many people as possible. Almost inevitably, a successful career in crime and general mayhem leads to a move into politics and Tik-Tok becomes the first robot candidate for Vice President of the United States.