An earlier, unanswered, question has had me scratching my head trying to remember the author and title of particular short story.  In the background revealed in the story, there is a health scare amongst the parents of a school. Children have received genetic modification intended to be improving. The change has an unexpected defect, causing  the eldest of the enhanced children have started to spontaneously fit and (it is implied) die. If I remember correctly, the epileptic fitting is referred to as 'blitzing',  The story itself is presented as a a first-person address by a girl, one of the few without the modification, to her school appealing for calm and understanding.  I must have read this in the early nineties, but the anthology it was in could have been published any time in the previous 15 years. I had thought it was by Asimov, but I've looked through all of the collected works and can't find it, so I suspect it was perhaps an anthology that he edited.
124125
I'm trying to find out the title of a book or short story which I can very dimly remember, no idea on date of publication or even the main plotline! If anyone can identify it from what I can remember, it will be a miracle.  One of the characters was an un-altered female(?) child(?) who was shunned because she was ugly, which basically meant that she hadn't been designed to be perfect like all the others. At some point, a whole batch of children who had been altered to have a particular trait suddenly started dying as the trait had a deadly side effect.  I don't even think that this was the main plot, it may have been a side plot or part of the initial scene setting at the start.
48770
Looking to identify a short story I read in a sci-fi anthology as a child, about an angry, bullied somewhat misanthropic boy who is given immense near-omnipotent powers by an alien intelligence. I read this in English, sometime in the late 1990s/early 2000s. He goes on to use this power to destroy the human race, which causes him to age terribly in a very short amount of time. At the end of the story he is a lonely old man stripped of the powers he held briefly, and is alone on an isolated Earth. The aliens then proceed to invade Earth.
98342
A visiting science fiction author, James D. Macdonald, showed a writing group at my school this story when I was in 7th/8th grade (around 1996-1997) and I can't remember the title or the author but it's always stayed with me and I'd love to find out more about it.    The gist of the story is that someone starts a job working for a news service, receiving telegrams or teletypes or similar written communiques. Pretty soon he starts receiving telegrams from a city that doesn't show up on any map, name kinda reminds me of Xanadu or something similar. The employee reads these telegrams as they describe a kind of mist enveloping this city; and to cut a short story short, the city is ultimately destroyed and no more word is received.    Really sorry if this is vague, doesn't leave much to go on.
122633
The initial plot was about genetic engineering being used to defeat disease, but something went awry that caused a massive social upheaval, where people in social settings would have a lapel pin or small badge that showed their blood type, so they could match up with someone compatible ( and not catch/cause a worse disease ).  An unknown effect of this genetic engineering was that newer children born turned into a sort-of hermaphrodite where they would physiologically switch genders under certain circumstances ( either puberty or pregnancy, I don't remember ).  The protagonist eventually adopted the surname Dos Caras ( meaning two-face or two-faced? ) and ended the story with a compatible mate.  All I remember of the antagonist was that he was a real ass, and regardless of the gender he/she was at the time, would flaunt the social custom of showing blood type in a gathering ( by wearing whatever blood type corresponding to the person he/she was interested in, and not his/her own ) just so he could 'sow his seed far and wide' to spread the genetic mutation that causes children to switch physiological genders.  The antagonist might have even died, by the end of the story, but that's one of the more fuzzier parts.
90583
I am looking for the name of an older sci-fi short story (read about 40 years ago) about genius kids who disappear (possibly into another dimension) and their father feels they ran into trouble there and is worried when they don't return. The story ends with him preparing to attempt follow them and rescue them wherever they might have gone. I read this as part of a Sci-Fi short story collection/anthology in the late 1960's but can't seem to find this story now.
116693
Trying to find the original story (I read it in Russian translation, original was most likely English unless it was Lem).  The story plot had artificial birds designed to serve as cops. The birds started attacking humans who were percieved as being aggressive towards anything alive. So they created more advanced birds to protect against the first ones. This worked for a while until the second kind started attacking humans as well. It ended with the idea that they would need another generation to attack the second-generation birds.  The story wasn't very long. I read it a while back (mid-1980s, which means the original was written even earlier, probably before 1980).  Despite a somewhat Asimov-like "misbehaving robots" topic, I'm pretty sure it wasn't Asimov.
81984
I am looking for the title of a short story where a space craft is made up of various creatures from around the universe.  If I remember correctly the skin of the craft is made of creatures. the computer is just a giant brain. The engine creature suffers some form of malfunction and a nearby suitable replacement is located which happens to be a human. Although not as good as the original the human will suffice. At first he is reluctant but then discovers he loves it. I think they call propelling the craft as "pushing".   I hope somebody can help. I had this book many years ago and I don't know what I have done with it.
30375
This was a short story in an anthology, it involved a group of people trapped in a perpetual videogame/virtual reality. There were levels, and you had to beat each one. The first was like a water-world, and the fifth was the simulation of a posh spaceship party.   The shocker near the end is where the characters realize they were astronauts on the moon who had their souls/consciousnesses stolen by passing aliens to use as jewels. The game was just to keep them all entertained.  I read it many years ago and every time I go back to the library I look for it but I can't seem to find it.
70594
I am looking for a short story I read online a few years ago, about artificial lifeform, with a hard sci-fi taste.  A couple of software engineers were trying to identify a strange program behavior on a new system in development, but digging through the outer layers of software source didn't explain the seemingly random issues they observed. After hours of debugging, they identified unexpected output at the compiler level.  One of the developers manages to craft a workaround, only to see additional issues appear around the fixes, and he begins to fear a backdoor might have been planted in the compiler, which seemed tainted much like the Ken Thompson hack. As this might eventually jeopardize the entire project, they spend more and more time on the issue itself, but as time passes, the deeper bugs they discover and fainter they become.  In the end, it seems like some artificial intelligence tried to emulate evolutionary pressure by establishing a form of communication channel, and having groups of humans around the world fixing the most obvious software outer layers. Even computer-assisted hardware design could be contaminated at this time, but in such complex a way they might go undetected for a long time, now adapted to the silicon environment.  I've been literally searching this story for months, and begin to believe I dreamt of it and should start writing myself.
4681
I have very vague impressions of a book I must have read as a child/teenager in the 1980s (so probably published in the UK in the 1970s or early 1980s).  It featured a man who had been technologically enhanced with special powers that he could activate only for short periods (probably because they took a lot of energy), possibly by tonguing one of his teeth.  They gave him:   Much faster reactions; everything around him slowed down. Greater strength/speed. Metal fingernails/claws. Possibly some sort of enhanced vision, too.   I think it described him engaging these powers as: He activated. or similar.  He may have been a mercenary type, who had paid a lot for them; they were rare or unique.  I don't recall any plot or other characters; it was probably a techno-action story.  (No magic, armies, warrior races, telepathy, vampires, or mutants, and I don't recall aliens or space travel.)  It may have been part of a short series of 2 or 3 books.  I'm afraid this isn't much to go on!  I'd completely forgotten about this book until recently, and my impressions are very hazy, so any of the above could be wrong.  (I remember enjoying it, though.)  I've not found anything I recognise on this site, or others; nor in lists of adult and young-person's SF for that period (so it probably wasn't a big-name author).  Does it ring any bells for anyone?
83993
I'm trying to recall a story I read in the 1960s or 1970s, but which I suspect was older than that.  It was about a quasi-immortal family in the twentieth century who lived in a rural area and kept a low profile. It was a stand-alone story and only the family, and perhaps distant relatives, had unusual powers. I don't think they were aliens, just some offshoot of humanity.   They were of varying ages, ranging from relatively young to thousands of years old. They had lived in Europe before immigrating to the American colonies. Each person had a distinctive set of psi powers, ranging from the grandpa, pa, ma and son. I believe the youngest, just called Baby, was the most powerful and least human looking, and lived in the attic. He slept most of the time.  Nothing remains in my memory of the plot.  As I recall, the story had a Theodore Sturgeon feeling to it, with a humorous, ironic touch, but it probably wasn't his. I haven't been able to identify it from looking at a list of his works.  I probably read it in an anthology, but I might have seen it in an old magazine. I'm just not sure.  If anyone can help me identify it, I'd be grateful. Then I can scratch that mental itch.
77853
I'm trying to help my mother find a short story that she remembers reading some, oh, 30 or more years ago.   I don't have a lot to go on, but apparently the main concept of the story was that the food that everyone was eating was said to come from “The Giant Chicken” or “The Great Chicken” kept somewhere (she read it in a Hebrew translation), but when the protagonists delve into the matter, they discover that this “chicken” (as it was translated) is actually a giant cancerous tumor, kept alive and growing for food.  I've established, probably, that this is not Harry Harrison's Make Room! Make Room! or Roommates, the basis for Soylent Green. That was my first thought. I also couldn't find a lead in the  section on wikipedia.  I don't know any more - not what the main characters were, what book it was published in or the actual decade it was written, unfortunately. It would have been read in the early 80's at the very latest.
61000
I'm hoping someone can help me as this is driving me nuts! Context and Chronological info I'm trying to find the title/author of a short story that I read in some or other anthology ages ago. I couldn't give you an exact date but I'd say it was probably 50s/60s. Plot The human population has increased to the point where input and output of resources on Earth is in exact equilibrium. As such, no other living matter can be permitted to exist, as its use of resources would throw this equilibrium out of balance. One man in a vast tower block has managed to hide some flowers, and, I think, one or a few small animals - perhaps a mouse. These are detected by the relevant authorities, and the story ends when an official arrives at the apartment and requires the man to destroy them - the last non-human living things on Earth.
115275
I read a short story in an anthology around 1998 (the book could have been older than that) which went like this - A human space exploration scientific crew is exploring an alient planet (peaceful planet, as I recall) when they run into an alien spaceship (from a different planet which also happened to be there) - the aliens were telepaths.   The alien commander and first officer discuss the earthlings after a meeting and realize that the human crew are the descendants of a species (Banthu/Klanthu/Zantha, something like that) which had tried to violently take over the galaxy some 20/30/50,000 years ago and which had been beaten back by the combined might of the rest of the galaxy. They had supposedly been eliminated but they somehow managed to survive and are back in space only a few thousand years after they were completely beaten (which is something the aliens are amazed by).   The alien commander kills the human explorers via telepathy but realizes that there is no information available to locate their home planet and speculate that they will be meeting again soon given the past history of the humans.  I vaguely think there was also a fantasy short by L Sprague de Camp in the same anthology, but can't be 100% sure. Any thoughts/ideas? Thanks!
31238
I read this short story(I believe it was under novella length, but I could be mistaken) a while back, and I am trying to identify the title for a friend.   Plot:      Parents(male and female) get a computer aided/holographic nursery for their children. The mother becomes increasingly agitated as the children withdraw more. The children are barely even featured in the story, and the ending concludes with lions possibly eating the parents.   Publishing date: Years ago.   Tech level: Seemingly functional AI, not much more.
63542
This was a 'young-adult' SF novel I read in the late 1970's, about the same time I was reading Voorloper by Andre Norton, Madeleine L'engle's Wrinkle In Time books and the Dragonfall 5 young adult novels. so I am not sure if it is actually one of the Dragonfall 5 stories, but I can't confirm it is or isn't by reading available synposes online.   As I recall, the story went something like this...    * SOME SPOILERS BELOW *  A young person and sibling - I think female protag and younger brother, but not sure - is scheduled to visit their aunt and uncle on another planet but to make the voyage in a timely fashion, must utilize this new consciousness transference technology to transmit their consciousness across the cosmos to a host replica body at the destination. After arriving at the destination the protagonist is impressed by their new body and is aware of the only way to tell they are in a replicant body is a small seam, scar or patch on their back, I think near the top of their spine, just below the collar of whatever clothing they wore.  The mystery begins when the protagonist realizes their hosts also sport the same scar when they should legitimately be in their real bodies.  The plot thickens when the protag or sibling finds a room of people in stasis when their replicant counterparts are roaming the same planet, and is subsequently caught in the act.  Sadly, I do not remember anything else, including the reasoning behind the deception.  I was quite young when I read this novel, so I probably got some of the details mixed up, but would love to know the name and author of the novel if anyone remembers.
30680
I'm looking for the title and author of a short story or novelette that I read quite some time ago.   The main characters are two young women. One is taking correspondence courses, and is constantly being berated by the other one for hoping to rise above her station. They go out to pick up young men, to sleep with them, to get pregnant.  It's not a normal sort of pregnancy, though. The men have some sort of 'coded semen' which grow something other than a child in the woman's womb. It ends up being a product of some kind, which earns the woman money when it is 'born'. The one woman is very careful about who she chooses, as she can only do this so many times. The other... isn't so careful.   At the end, the careful, studious woman achieves what she has been working for - a letter from a government organisation that permits her to become the mother to a human being.  Thank you for reading my question. I've been looking for this story for years, now.