Challenge 617

Argues With Self

In Jill Hand’s “Spare Parts,” what will happen when Gregory grows a “spare” brain? Even if it knows everything that his first brain knows, won’t it begin to develop a separate personality?
In Charles C. Cole’s “The Call from Mountainview Road”:
1. Why might no missing person report be filed?
2. How does the Operator differ from all the other people in Sean’s life?
In Edward Ahern’s “An Immodest Proposal”:
1. In what way does the essay echo Jonathan Swift’s?
2. Why might the “hunter-gather” diet resemble that of early homo sapiens sapiens more than that of Neanderthal man?
In Maurice Roger’s “By the Broken Window”:
1. Are any of the questions and personal problems raised by Richard and Vern in part 1 eventually resolved?
2. In part 2, how many hands does Richard have after reverting to his human form?
3. What questions will the police ask Vern after they find the revolver “Betsy” with his fingerprints on it?
In Mike Acker’s “Nasim”:
1. Is there such a thing as an orange-blue sun?
2. What is the irony in the explicit directions for space travel? Hint.
3. The word “nasim” means various things in many different languages, e.g. Slavic, Turkish, Igbo, etc. Most have something to do with “I” or “we.” Is the name meaningful or merely exotic?