Monday, February 26, 2018

Lab B-15, by Nick Wolven

[Analog]
★★★★☆ A Unique Problem-Solving Technique

(Hard SF) Jerry’s got enough problems with donors pressing him to make his project show results, so it really doesn’t help that some of his staff seem to be freaking about something in Lab B-15. (11,496 words; Time: 38m)


"Lab B-15," by (edited by Trevor Quachri), appeared in issue 03-04|18, published on by .

Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)

Pro: I classed this as hard SF because Jerry treats the problem scientifically. Once he realizes his body is dead and that he’s inside one of his failed simulations, he applies his own knowledge to try to solve the problem from the inside. His realization that the problem comes from failing to feed enough non-sensory data to the brain together with his solution for communicating that back to his colleagues is brilliant. (And we have to give them credit for realizing that their best bet was to put Jerry himself into the simulation to give him a shot at solving it from the inside.)

It is very satisfying in the last scene to know that he succeeded.

Con: Jerry is the only character who’s developed here, although the fact that the rest of them really are just figments of his imagination is a pretty good excuse for not developing them.

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