HYPNOTIC LULU – WITH INSPIRED ELECTRONICA (X MINUS ONE)
BEATPORT & A MESMERIZING SET
LULU by CLIFFORD SIMAK
In a seductive, sultry voice, we hear “How was that take off, boys?” Then the robot gets serious, telling the four astronauts that they are not returning to Earth, but are going off into space to elope. She is going to marry all four of them.
The men like the idea of a wife that can be programmed and follow their instructions, but of course they don’t like the idea of staying in space forever. But they find the robot’s alternative solution worse. I think the story would have been better if the robot had fallen in love with just one man, as happened to Wally Cox in the Twilight Zone episode, “With Love, From Agnes.” But I’m an old fashioned guy and get sentimental about one-man-one-computer relationships. (from “The Critical X Minus One” by Jim Fanisher)
X Minus One aired Clifford D. Simak’s novelette “Lulu” on October 31, 1957 as its 118th episode. Originally published in the June 1957 issue of Galaxy, it tells the humorous story of a female AI and three crewman aboard a spaceship and what happens when Lulu falls in love with all three of the spacefarers and refuses to return the ship to Earth. Sound vaguely familiar? HAL 9000 Lulu ain’t, but like HAL she has a mind of her own and her character is at once stubborn and endearing. And funny. Her dialogue is perfect, she loves poetry, and because the author plays her character as an analog of a human female in love, the entire setup is priceless. How the crewman seek to outwit her–and how she attempts to get them to fall in love with her–form the crux of this delightful story. It’s a winner all the way around and well worth a listen, especially since this is Spring, the time when thoughts traditionally turn to love.
GALAXY SCIENCE FICTION – HYPNOTIC LULU
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