Homepage
Login
Profile
BookClubs
dmBox
Read Ebook: The Standardized Man by Bartholomew Stephen
Font size:
Background color:
Text color:
Add to tbrJar First Page Next Page
Ebook has 105 lines and 6805 words, and 3 pages
Transcriber's Note:
THE STANDARDIZED MAN
BY STEPHEN BARTHOLOMEW
The turbocar swiped an embankment at ninety miles an hour; the result was, of course, inevitable. It was a magnificent crash, and the driver was thrown clear at the end of it for a distance of 50 feet.
Charles looked at the body and got his bright idea.
The trouble had started a couple of weeks before, when Edwin, Charles' laboratory co-ordinator, had called him into his office just before Charles was due to leave for home. It was a distinct breach of etiquette to cause a worker to arrive home at any time besides his accustomed hour, so Charles knew whatever Edwin wanted must be important. He sat down opposite the Co-ordinator and assumed a politely questioning look.
"Charles, you know I wouldn't call you here at this hour if it wasn't important," Edwin said, pursing his lips.
"Of course not, sir," Charles replied, waiting.
"The fact of the matter is, we are in dire straits." Edwin stared at the other ominously. "As you well know, the Textile Industry, like every other business firm in the world, has functioned entirely without economic troubles of any sort for the past fifty years."
"Well, of course, sir...."
"And you are also well aware of what would be the results of any financial deviation in any of these firms, particularly in a major industry such as our own."
"Certainly, sir. Ours is a delicately balanced economic system. Any slight change in the economic status of one firm would...."
"Exactly!" Edwin leaned across the desk and glared at him. "I have just come from a Board of Directors meeting. And it was made known to us that during the past three weeks our margin of profit has fallen off by three tenths of a per cent!"
Charles' face turned pasty white. He swallowed and took a deep breath.
"Will that information be made public, sir?"
"Naturally not! But we aren't sure just how long we can keep it a secret! The fact of the matter is, the IBM says that our profit margin will continue to spiral downward at a gradually increasing rate unless some drastic change occurs in our production set-up!"
Edwin leaned back and clasped his hands, composing himself. "The precise reasons for the existence of the situation are quite obscure. However, the IBM has informed us that the problem can be remedied if we make a particular change in our production system, and it has informed us as to the nature of that change."
"Look here," Edwin said. "These are the sales charts for our six suits. As you know, we make three different types for marlons, and three for marilyns. Hot-weather, cold-weather, and medium-weather. Each suit is designed to last a carefully calculated length of time, and each consumer need only buy three suits a year. They are exactly alike except for slight size differences, and because of elastic fabrics these differences are held to a minimum. With this system the Textile Industry attained the ultimate in Standardization, the ultimate in efficiency."
Charles rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Has the IBM suggested any alternative to our system, any possible change?"
Edwin sat down again, folded his arms on the desk, and scowled. "That's where you come in! The IBM informs us that there is only one possible way to stabilize our economy, to raise our profit margin to its former level--and that is by further standardization!"
Charles raised his eyebrows. "You mean a sexless wardrobe, sir? That's been tried...."
Charles swallowed audibly at that and said nothing.
"Listen!" Edwin poked the other in the chest. "I assume you know what will happen to Society if the Textile Industry becomes economically unstable?"
"Well, yes sir, but...."
Charles nodded unhappily. "Yes sir, I understand."
Charles went to work the next day after informing his wife that she could expect him to begin keeping rather irregular hours at the laboratory. The idea of any kind of irregularity was enough to worry any wife, and Ingrid was the naturally suspicious type. She was always nagging and had, upon occasion, even gone so far as to insinuate that Charles had individualist tendencies.
So he knew that she would, embarrassingly, call Edwin to check up on him, but he didn't really care.
The real problem was the all-weather suit.
Charles put his small corps of assistants on the project, investigating several lines of thought at once. Every day, someone would drop around for a while to check on his progress, and he had no delusions about what would happen if he failed. The entire economic stability of his society depended on his coming up with an all-weather suit, and he began to have trouble sleeping nights.
Eventually, he found what looked like a workable solution.
He called Edwin to tell him about it, and Edwin came down to the lab to see for himself.
Charles cleared his throat. "Well, that's the first sample, sir. Of course, it's possible to obtain a finer weave once we find out a few things about it, and when it's bleached...."
Edwin nodded impatiently. "Yes, yes. Well, what's so special about it?"
"Well, it's made of a radically new type of fiber, sir...."
"How's it new?"
"I can show you more technical data on it, sir, but basically the difference between this and conventional types of fiber is that this is thermostatic."
"How do you mean, thermostatic?"
"Well, sir, basically, the diameter of the fiber is inversely proportional with the temperature. When the temperature rises, the fiber contracts, and when the temperature drops, it expands. So in cold weather, you have a fine, tight weave with good insulation, and in warm weather you have a loose weave with ventilation...."
Edwin nodded and dropped the fabric on a lab bench. "Sounds good."
"Well sir, we have to make a few more tests on it, and it'll have to be field tested before we can decide if it's safe to use in garments...."
Edwin tapped him on the shoulder. "Test it, Charlie."
"Sir?"
Charles' jaw dropped. "Today! But...."
"No buts! Wear it a couple of days, and if you say it checks out, we go into production immediately."
So Charles went home that night in a new suit and a worried frown.
Things were smooth for about two days. Charles continued to wear the suit and Edwin insisted on his making the preliminary preparations for the mass-production of thermostatic fabric. Charles was kept busy working out specifications.
Then there were two factors that brought about a drastic change in his life.
One was that he was worried. Charles wasn't exactly sure what he was worried about, but at the back of his mind there was something in the complicated molecular structure of the new fiber that bothered him.
The other factor was that Ingrid was still nagging him. Perhaps if Charles had been able to tell her what he was working on she would have understood why he was worried. But he didn't tell her, and she didn't understand.
One day after Charles had come home and eaten, she started an argument with him about something or other, and in the most heated part of the battle she had hurled at him the supreme insult.
Coupled with the strain that Charles was under, that had been enough to make him stare at Ingrid for a moment, wheel and stalk out of the apartment.
Add to tbrJar First Page Next Page