精华区文章阅读

发信人: by (春天的小懒虫), 信区: SFworld
标  题: 2010 (31)
发信站: 哈工大紫丁香 (Wed Oct  6 15:05:48 1999), 转信

                             31
                        Disneyville

A fin-de-siecle   philosopher  had  once  remarked  -  and  been
roundly  denounced  for  his  pains - that Walter Elias Disney
had  contributed  more  to  genuine  human  happiness than all
the  religious  teachers  in history. Now, half a century after
the artist's death, his dreams were still proliferating across
the Florida landscape.
  When  it  had  opened  in  the  early 1980s, his Experimental
Prototype   Community   of   Tomorrow   had  been  a  showcase
for  new  technologies and modes of living. But as its founder
had  realized,  EPCOT  would  only  fulfil  its  purpose  when
some  of  its  vast  acreage was a genuine, living town, occu-
pied  by  people  who  called  it home. That process had taken
the  remainder  of  the  century; now the residential area had
twenty   thousand  inhabitants  and  had,  inevitably,  become
popularly known as Disneyville.
  Because   they   could  move  in  only  after  penetrating  a
palace  guard  of WED  lawyers,  it was not surprising that the
average  age  of  the  occupants was the highest in any United
States  community,  or  that  its  medical  services  were the
most  advanced  in  the  world.  Some  of  them, indeed, could
hardly  have  been conceived, still less created, in any other
place.

The  apartment  had been carefully designed not to look like a
hospital  suite,  and  only  a few unusual fittings would have
betrayed  its  purpose.  The  bed  was  scarcely knee-high, so
that  the  danger  of  falls was minimized: it could, however,
be  raised  and  tilted for the convenience of the nurses. The
bathroom tub was sunk into the floor, and had a built-in seat
as well as handrails so that even the elderly or infirm could
get in and out of it easily. The floor was thickly carpeted,
but there were no rugs over which one could trip, or sharp
corners that might cause injuries. Other details were less
obvious - and the TV camera was so well concealed that no
one would have suspected its presence.
  There were few personal touches - a pile of old books in
one corner, and a framed front page of one of the last printed
issues of the New York Times proclaiming: US SPACESHIP
LEAVES FOR JUPITER. Close to this were two photo-
graphs, one showing a boy in his late teens; the other, a
considerably older man wearing astronaut's uniform.
  Though the frail, grey-haired woman watching the
domestic comedy unfolding on the TV panel was not yet
seventy, she looked much older. From time to time she
chuckled appreciatively at some joke from the screen, but
she kept glancing at the door as if expecting a visitor. And
when she did so, she took a firmer grasp on the walking
stick propped against her chair.
  Yet she was distracted by a moment of TV drama when
the door finally opened, and she looked around with a guilty
start as the little service trolley rolled into the room, fol-
lowed closely by a uniformed nurse.
  `Time for lunch, Jessie,' called the nurse. `We've got
something very nice for you today.`
  `Don't want any lunch.'
  `It will make you feel a lot better. 9
  `I won't eat until you tell me what it is.'
  `Why won't you eat it?'
  `I'm not hungry. Are you ever hungry?' she added
slyly.
  The robot food trolley came to a halt beside the chair, and
the transport covers opened up to reveal the dishes,
Throughout, the nurse never touched anything, not even
the controls on the trolley. She now stood motionless. with
a rather fixed smile, looking at her difficult patient.
  In the monitor room fifty metres away, the medical tech-
nician said to the doctor: `Now watch this.'
  Jessie's gnarled hand lifted the walking stick: then, with
surprising speed, she swept it in a short arc toward the
nurse's legs.
  The nurse took no notice whatsoever, even when the
stick sliced right through her. Instead, she remarked sooth-
ingly. `Now, doesn't that look nice? Eat it up, dear.'
  A cunning smile spread across Jessie's face, but she
obeyed instructions. In a moment, she was eating heartily.
  `You see?' said the technician. She knows perfectly well
what's going on. She's a lot brighter than she pretends to be,
most of the time.'
  `And she's the first?'
  `Yes. All the others believe that really " Nurse Williams.
bringing their meals.'
  `Well, I don't think it matters. Look how pleased she is.
just because she's outsmarted us. She's eating her food,
which is the purpose of the exercise. But we must warn the
nurses - all of them, not just Williams.'
  `Why - oh, of course. The next time it may not be a
hologram - and then think of the lawsuits we'll be facing
from our battered staff.'

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:-) Helix@163.NET                                                    85958F57
:-( Helix@KALI.COM.CN                                                208CE12C
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