Something for Nothing (book)


Something for Nothing is humorous story of the science fiction writer Robert Sheckley. It was first published in the journal Galaxy Science Fiction in 1954 and in the collection Citizen in Space in 1955.

Plot

Waking up one morning, Joe Collins unexpectedly finds in his room a cube with the inscription “Class A Recycler”. After some experimentation, he came to the conclusion that this was what he had always dreamed of - the executor of desires. And here Collins is accepted to satisfy his ever-increasing needs: he orders palaces and oil wells, money and cars, herds of pedigree cattle and ballet troupes. And one day he carelessly, to all material benefits, asks for immortality. And suddenly he learns that the "utilizer" is just a credit machine, moving services in time and space. But sooner or later you have to pay for everything. However, he still gets something for nothing: namely, immortality - in order to work out a debt in marble quarries for several thousand years.

Adaptations