Challenge 881

When and Where, Who and Why?

In Natan Dubovitsky’s Near Zero: Does laziness alone account for Yegor’s not taking revenge on Mamai? How will Yegor proceed in the future?
In J. H. Malone’s Drunk on Time:
1. Where is Saul when he talks to Garza? To Liesl? Why might there be no indication of a change of place between those conversations while Saul’s and Liesl’s travels are recounted in detail?
2. Liesl’s theory of her scanner’s operation summarizes the theory of the multiverse. Does her explanation — or the multiverse — make any sense? Liesl says that, in the future, everyone will have a scanner. What difference would it make? Would all scanners operate like television and show the same views to everyone tuned to the same channel? Could they?
3. How do Saul and Liesl differ on the question of free will and action? How might a universe-hopping “transporter” affect individual identity?
4. Saul eventually puts the scanner to use. For what purpose? To whose benefit?
In Melissa Rose Rogers’ Gattaca Meets Black Swan:
1. Why might the title allude to the film Gattaca and the role of the Black Swan in the ballet Swan Lake?
2. If and when Arabella’s genetic enhancement is discovered, she will forfeit her career as a ballerina. Will her parents and the genetic engineers also be punished in some way?
3. Have the genetic engineers introduced new genes in Arabella or have they recombined ones she already had? Could the recombination have occurred naturally? If so, how does she differ from other professional athletes?
4. Why did Arabella’s parents not make it a priority to resolve her brother’s faulty heart condition? Would curing him have constituted a violation of medical ethics?
5. Why does Arabella reveal her status to her partner, Japeth? Can any good come of her impulsive disclosure?

Responses welcome!