The Great C
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"The Great C" is a
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
short story by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in '' Cosmos Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine'' in 1953. It has since been republished several times in collections such as ''
Beyond Lies the Wub "Beyond Lies the Wub" is a science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick. It was his first published genre story, originally appearing in ''Planet Stories'' in July 1952.Damien Broderick, ''Transrealist Fiction: Writing in the ...
'' in 1988. Parts of the work, along with ''
Planet for Transients "Planet for Transients" is a 1953 science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick. The story was originally published in the October–November 1953 issue of ''Fantastic Universe''. The story also appears in ''We Can Remember It for ...
'', were later used in the full-length novel ''
Deus Irae ''Deus Irae'' is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel started by American author Philip K. Dick and finished with the help of American author Roger Zelazny. It was published in 1976. ''Deus irae'', meaning ''God of Wrath'' in Latin, is a pla ...
''. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which a young man is sent from his tribe every year to visit a godlike computer capable of mass destruction and try to stump it with three questions. The story was adapted into an animated
virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...
film in 2018 by Secret Location.


Plot summary

The story begins at the Shelter, a massive underground bunker, where a small tribe of humans prepare to send off a young man named Tim Meredith on the yearly pilgrimage. Walter Kent, the Tribe Leader, tells Meredith that if he makes it back to the Shelter, he will be the first in fifty years to do so. The journey is to a highly intelligent computer—the Great C. It was constructed by the greatest scientists and soon grew too powerful, ultimately causing a
nuclear holocaust A nuclear holocaust, also known as a nuclear apocalypse, nuclear Armageddon, or atomic holocaust, is a theoretical scenario where the mass detonation of nuclear weapons causes globally widespread destruction and radioactive fallout. Such a scenar ...
called the Smash to prove its strength to humans. The Great C now demands a tribute every year using the threat of a second Smash. This tribute must ask the Great C three questions and, if it cannot answer the questions, it will forever leave the humans alone. If it can answer the questions, the young tribute will be killed. Tim Meredith reaches the Great C in the ruins of Federal Research Station 7. He asks the three questions his tribe spent all year devising: # Where does the rain come from? # What keeps the sun moving through the sky? # How did the world begin? The Great C answers all three questions with ease. Meredith is then commanded to jump into the machine's vat of
hydrochloric acid Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride. It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungent smell. It is classified as a strong acid Acid strength is the tendency of an acid, symbol ...
where his body's nutrients will be used as fuel to power the Great C. Meredith's bones and metal helmet are expelled, joining the pile of refuse from the previous fifty. The Great C awaits for the next year. Back at the Shelter, the tribe discusses Meredith's death and hope for the day when the Great C will not be able to answer a question. They immediately start preparing for the next year, attempting to come up with difficult questions.


Subtexts

Among the subtexts in "The Great C" is the biblical version of the Phoenician god
Moloch Moloch (; ''Mōleḵ'' or הַמֹּלֶךְ‎ ''hamMōleḵ''; grc, Μόλοχ, la, Moloch; also Molech or Molek) is a name or a term which appears in the Hebrew Bible several times, primarily in the book of Leviticus. The Bible strongly co ...
who demands the sacrifice of human babies. Thus, although it is a science fiction story, it has the classic underlaying of fantasy. American author
Paul J. Nahin Paul J. Nahin (born November 26, 1940 in Orange County, California) is an American electrical engineer and author who has written 20 books on topics in physics and mathematics, including biographies of Oliver Heaviside, George Boole, and Claude Sh ...
also discusses in his book ''Holy Sci-Fi!: Where Science Fiction and Religion Intersect'' the biblical analogy of the Genesis flood narrative seen in the Great C destroying the world to essentially punish humans, as well as the story's similarities with the
Sphinx A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...
, the Minotaur, and the Wizard of Oz.


VR Adaptation

"The Great C" was adapted into an animated
virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...
film by the media studio Secret Location, premiering at the
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...
in July 2018 and releasing October 2018 for
Oculus Rift Oculus Rift is a discontinued line of virtual reality headsets developed and manufactured by Oculus VR, a division of Meta Platforms, released on March 28, 2016. In 2012 Oculus initiated a Kickstarter campaign to fund the Rift's development, af ...
,
HTC Vive VIVE, sometimes referred to as HTC Vive, is a virtual reality brand of HTC Corporation. It consists of hardware like its titular virtual reality headsets and accessories, virtual reality software and services, and initiatives that promote appl ...
, and
PlayStation VR The PlayStation VR (PS VR, known by its code name Project Morpheus during development) is a virtual reality headset developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, which was released in October 2016. It is fully functional with the PlayStation 4 an ...
to positive reviews. The film follows a young woman named Clare who leaves her tribe to search for her fiancé, who was sent on the pilgrimage to the Great C. It is the first-ever VR adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story. Ryan Andal, president and cofounder of Secret Location, said in a statement, "Philip K. Dick’s wonderfully forward-thinking stories have always felt primed for telling in equally forward-thinking media. Secret Location is highly focused on ushering in the future of storytelling, so pairing The Great C’s provocative themes with our VR development prowess is helping us redefine how we consume sci-fi stories." ''The Great C'' utilizes traditional filmmaking techniques to "seamlessly simulate the look and feel of camera movements, lens, and shot transitions similar to film."


See also

*
Planet for Transients "Planet for Transients" is a 1953 science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick. The story was originally published in the October–November 1953 issue of ''Fantastic Universe''. The story also appears in ''We Can Remember It for ...
*
Deus Irae ''Deus Irae'' is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel started by American author Philip K. Dick and finished with the help of American author Roger Zelazny. It was published in 1976. ''Deus irae'', meaning ''God of Wrath'' in Latin, is a pla ...
* Philip K. Dick bibliography


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Great C Short stories by Philip K. Dick 1953 short stories Science fiction short stories