Variation two

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Variant Two (English original title Second Variety ) is a short story by the American science fiction writer Philip K. Dick from 1952. It first appeared in the magazine Space Science Fiction in May 1953 and was included in numerous short story collections. Variant two is one of Dick's classics. It deals with one of his most frequently discussed topics, the question of whether a person is really human and how to distinguish a real person from a simulated person. The German translation is by Bela Wohl.

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As in many short stories by Philip K. Dick, the earth is totally destroyed after a third world war between the two world powers Soviet Union and USA . At first the Russians had the upper hand, but then the Americans developed a robotic army made up of so-called grippers, small, autonomous combat units that - equipped with numerous knives and blades - pounce on the enemy. The Americans protect themselves from these devices with wristbands with special transmitters. The robots manufacture and repair themselves in underground factories. As they begin to develop into new variants, they become a danger to all people.

A Russian soldier is killed by the grabbers shortly before the UN troops bunker . He has an offer to negotiate with him. Major Hendricks then made his way to the Russian lines. On the way he meets the distraught boy David with a teddy bear in his arms. Hendricks takes David with him.

When Hendricks reaches the Russians' cellar hiding place, they immediately fire at David, who turns out to be a grabber. The two men Rudi and Klaus as well as the woman Tasso tell Hendricks that on their side all soldiers apart from them fell victim to the combat robots. The robots have evolved and come in different types. A wounded soldier that looks deceptively real as variant one and the just killed David as variant three. Nobody knows who or what variant two could be. The strategy of the advanced grabs is to sneak into people's trust in order to infiltrate their fortifications. The different variants are produced in independent factories. The bracelet against the knife robots has no effect on them.

A situation now develops in the bunker in which the Russian soldiers suspect each other of being variant two. After Rudi was wrongly killed, Klaus is exposed as a robot.

Hendricks and Tasso flee after an attack by the claws. They go to a rescue rocket with which they want to reach the secret lunar base, the command center of the UN troops and the last possibility for people to retreat. The rocket only has one seat, which is why the wounded Hendricks Tasso lets go. As Hendricks strolls aimlessly around and inspects the destroyed Klaus, he sees his product label: Variant Four. He realizes that Tasso must be variant two. He sees the end of himself and humanity as a whole imminent: the many copies of David and Tasso are approaching him, and he has revealed the hiding place on the moon to a robot. He consoles himself with the fact that the robot variants - as soon as the humans are eliminated - will take up the fight against each other.

filming

The story was made into a film in 1995 under the title Screamers .

Others

The short story Jon's Welt (1954) by Philip K. Dick is based on the story Variant Two and takes place several years after the war. After the people had been ousted from the earth, the grapples began to fight each other (as indicated by the hand grenades of the Tassos, with which they destroy some of the grapples). Ultimately, people were able to defeat the machines and get back on "Terra".

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