Stickup

It isn't too hard to outsmart a machine. Any machine. All you need to do is figure out its weak spot. You can put a phone out of commission by dialing a number and never hanging up, since only the originating instrument can break the connection in a local call. What is a computer except an overdeveloped phone?

The compu-teller at the bank was supposed to be foolproof, so there were no guards. I walked into a booth, set up my apparatus, clipped two leads to the alarm wires and pushed the button for service.

The screen came on. DEPOSIT OR WITHDRAWAL? the words flashed, after I gave my account number.

"Withdrawal," I said. "One hundred thousand dollars."

ACCOUNT INSUFFICIENT, it flashed. Sharp, that machine.

"Listen, wirebrain," I said. "I have affixed a 20,000 volt electron bomb to your alarm terminal. Now you either spit out the change in thousand-dollar bills pronto, or I'll set the bomb off and do half a million dollars worth of damage to your circuitry. Activate your alarm and that will trigger it automatically. So which is it going to be—one hundred G to me, or five hundred G to the repair contractor, who's a bigger crook than I am? Remember, you're programmed for economy. You have five nanoseconds to decide."

Sure, they scotched that dodge after that, but I was long gone. When I need more dough, I'll figure a new wrinkle.

Dear H:

This is close, but the accent is on cleverness rather than action. Have you tried it on the literary market? They sometimes appreciate cleverness, provided they don't understand it.

Use an irrelevant title for them.

Alien Plot
titlepage.xhtml
Alien_Plot_split_000.html
Alien_Plot_split_001.html
Alien_Plot_split_002.html
Alien_Plot_split_003.html
Alien_Plot_split_004.html
Alien_Plot_split_005.html
Alien_Plot_split_006.html
Alien_Plot_split_007.html
Alien_Plot_split_008.html
Alien_Plot_split_009.html
Alien_Plot_split_010.html
Alien_Plot_split_011.html
Alien_Plot_split_012.html
Alien_Plot_split_013.html
Alien_Plot_split_014.html
Alien_Plot_split_015.html
Alien_Plot_split_016.html
Alien_Plot_split_017.html
Alien_Plot_split_018.html
Alien_Plot_split_019.html
Alien_Plot_split_020.html
Alien_Plot_split_021.html
Alien_Plot_split_022.html
Alien_Plot_split_023.html
Alien_Plot_split_024.html
Alien_Plot_split_025.html
Alien_Plot_split_026.html
Alien_Plot_split_027.html
Alien_Plot_split_028.html
Alien_Plot_split_029.html
Alien_Plot_split_030.html
Alien_Plot_split_031.html
Alien_Plot_split_032.html
Alien_Plot_split_033.html
Alien_Plot_split_034.html
Alien_Plot_split_035.html
Alien_Plot_split_036.html
Alien_Plot_split_037.html
Alien_Plot_split_038.html
Alien_Plot_split_039.html
Alien_Plot_split_040.html
Alien_Plot_split_041.html
Alien_Plot_split_042.html
Alien_Plot_split_043.html
Alien_Plot_split_044.html
Alien_Plot_split_045.html
Alien_Plot_split_046.html
Alien_Plot_split_047.html
Alien_Plot_split_048.html
Alien_Plot_split_049.html
Alien_Plot_split_050.html
Alien_Plot_split_051.html
Alien_Plot_split_052.html
Alien_Plot_split_053.html
Alien_Plot_split_054.html
Alien_Plot_split_055.html
Alien_Plot_split_056.html
Alien_Plot_split_057.html
Alien_Plot_split_058.html
Alien_Plot_split_059.html
Alien_Plot_split_060.html
Alien_Plot_split_061.html
Alien_Plot_split_062.html
Alien_Plot_split_063.html
Alien_Plot_split_064.html