"Sally" is a

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...

. It was first published in the May–June 1953 issue of ''

Fantastic Fantastic or Fantastik may refer to: Music * ''Fantastic'' (Toy-Box album) * ''Fantastic'' (Wham! album) * '' Fan-Tas-Tic (Vol. 1)'', an album by Slum Village * '' Fantastic, Vol. 2'', an album by Slum Village * ''Fantastic'' (EP), an EP by ...

'' and later appeared in the Asimov collections ''

Nightfall and Other Stories ''Nightfall and Other Stories'' (1969) is a collection of 20 previously published science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov. Asimov added a brief introduction to each story, explaining some aspect of the story's history and/or how it came to ...

'' (1969) and ''

The Complete Robot ''The Complete Robot'' (1982) is a collection of 31 of the 37 science fiction short stories about robots by American writer Isaac Asimov, written between 1939 and 1977.Introduction, ''The Complete Robot'', Isaac Asimov Most of the stories had be ...

'' (1982).

Plot summary

In 2057, the only cars allowed on the road are those that contain positronic brains; these are

autonomous car A self-driving car, also known as an autonomous car (AC), driverless car, robotic car or robo-car, is a car that is capable of operating with reduced or no User input, human input. They are sometimes called robotaxi, robotaxis, though this te ...

s and do not require a human driver. Fifty-one old cars have been retired to a farm run by Jake, where they can be properly cared for. All have names, but only three are identified by Jake. Sally is a vain convertible, possibly a

Corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

(the only convertible US-made sports car at the time the story was written), and one sedan, Giuseppe, is identified as coming from the

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

factories, where

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian carmaker known for its sports-oriented vehicles, strong auto racing heritage, and iconic design. Headquartered in Turin, Italy, it is a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe and one of 14 brands of mu ...

was headquartered. The oldest car on the farm is from 2015, a Mat-o-Mot that goes by the name of Matthew, which Jake had once chauffeured. The cars in the farm communicate by slamming doors and honking their horns, and by misfiring, causing audible

engine knocking In spark-ignition internal combustion engines, knocking (also knock, detonation, spark knock, pinging or pinking) occurs when combustion of some of the air/fuel mixture in the cylinder does not result from propagation of the flame front ignite ...

. Raymond Gellhorn, an unscrupulous businessman, tries to steal some of the cars in order to 'recycle' the brains. He forces Jake at gunpoint to board a bus he has poorly connected to control the vehicle, trying to leave the farm with Jake as a hostage. (Jake describes the bus as suffering the positronic brain equivalent of perpetual

migraines Migraine (, ) is a complex neurological disorder characterized by episodes of moderate-to-severe headache, most often unilateral and generally associated with nausea, and light and sound sensitivity. Other characterizing symptoms may includ ...

.) The cars chase and eventually surround the bus, communicating with it until it opens a door. Jake falls out, and the bus drives off with Gellhorn. Sally takes Jake back to the farm; Gellhorn is found dead in a ditch the next morning, exhausted and run over. The bus is found by the police and is identified by its tire tracks. The story ends with Jake losing trust in his cars, thinking what the world will become if cars realize that they are effectively enslaved by humans, and revolt.

Notes

Asimov said, "Anyone reading 'Sally' can sense that I feel strongly attracted to the heroine of the story and that this probably reflects something of my own life ... The sexual symbolism is blatant". In contrast to most of Asimov's Robot stories, 'Sally' does not refer to or describe the

Three Laws of Robotics The Three Laws of Robotics (often shortened to The Three Laws or Asimov's Laws) are a set of rules devised by science fiction author Isaac Asimov, which were to be followed by robots in several of his stories. The rules were introduced in his 194 ...

, and may not be set in the same continuity.

References

External links

*
"Sally"
on the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sally (short story) Works originally published in Fantastic (magazine) Fiction set in 2057