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Fantasy Aspects, issue 2, November 1947

Page 4

And stratoscrapers; Over-whelming.
     Freder babbles forth of the tragadey he has just witnessed.  His father is cold to the suffering of the subterranes.  He is merely annoyed that his son should have seen this in-cident, and been so effected by it.  Freder is appaled at his father's callousness.
     Determined to help right the wrongs of his fa-ther, Freder again descends to the level of the ma-chines.  Here in the steam-murky atmosphere he comes across a man feverishly at-tempting to meet the demands of a clock-like machine.  The machine is man-tall, with perhaps 60 bulbs on its circular surface.  It has three movable hands.  As bulbs flash on, the man must move the nearest hand to one.  This, for 10 hours at a time.
     The overstrained work-er collapses in Freder's arms.  Freder takes his place.  Unused to such ex-ertion before long he is in agony and crying aloud, "I did not know 10 hours could be such torture!"
***
     For some time John Fredersen's spies have been bringing him mysterious scraps of paper, seeming to show some catacombs below the city.  These sheets have been fond on the bodies of dead workers, killed in ac-cidents of when inadvertent-ly dropped.  Puzzled by them, Frederson decides to visit Rotwang the inventor to get his opinion on their meaning.
     Rowtang, a brilliant eccentric, lives in an old house in the middle of the city.  The 5-pointed start, ancient symbol of the alchemist, appears in various places around his house.  He shows Fredersen his la-test invention; a robot.  More properly it should be termed a robotrix - machani-cal woman - for the beautiful metallic body is femininely fashioned.  Rowtang commands his creation to rise.  It slowly walks fore-ward, extends a hand to Fredersen who greatly im-pressed.
     Meanwhile, Fredersen's son, having donned a work-er's clothes and been ac-cepted as one of them, learns the meaning of the secret sheets.  They are directions for the meeting place where Maria, the worker's daughter with whom he has falled in love, preaches to the workers.  He attends a gathering in the catacombs, hears Maria tell the tale of the con-struction of the Tower of Babel.  This is graphically pictured.  We see the noble dream of an ancient sky-scraper to reach to heaven.  But the men who concieved the super-building had no care for the hands which would have to construct it.  At last the slaves revolted and tore down the tremendous ediface.  "Haldway be-tween the head and the hands must the heart be" was the moral of Ma-ria's tale.  Freder listened entranced.
     John Fredersen, led to a secret observation vantage by Rowtang, also heard Maria's lecture.  He did not like it.  He instructed the inventor:  "capture Maria.  Make the robot into her likeness.  Send it among the workers to stir up re-volt."
     /I must interject myself into this synopsis at this point to state that
     (cont. on page 22)
----( Page 4)----

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And stratoscrapers; Over-whelming. Freder babbles forth of the tragadey he has just witnessed. His father is cold to the suffering of the subterranes. He is merely annoyed that his son should have seen this in-cident, and been so effected by it. Freder is appaled at his father's callousness. Determined to help right the wrongs of his fa-ther, Freder again descends to the level of the ma-chines. Here in the steam-murky atmosphere he comes across a man feverishly at-tempting to meet the demands of a clock-like machine. The machine is man-tall, with perhaps 60 bulbs on its circular surface. It has three movable hands. As bulbs flash on, the man must move the nearest hand to one. This, for 10 hours at a time. The overstrained work-er collapses in Freder's arms. Freder takes his place. Unused to such ex-ertion before long he is in agony and crying aloud, "I did not know 10 hours could be such torture!" *** For some time John Fredersen's spies have been bringing him mysterious scraps of paper, seeming to show some catacombs below the city. These sheets have been fond on the bodies of dead workers, killed in ac-cidents of when inadvertent-ly dropped. Puzzled by them, Frederson decides to visit Rotwang the inventor to get his opinion on their meaning. Rowtang, a brilliant eccentric, lives in an old house in the middle of the city. The 5-pointed start, ancient symbol of the alchemist, appears in various places around his house. He shows Fredersen his la-test invention; a robot. More properly it should be termed a robotrix - machani-cal woman - for the beautiful metallic body is femininely fashioned. Rowtang commands his creation to rise. It slowly walks fore-ward, extends a hand to Fredersen who greatly im-pressed. Meanwhile, Fredersen's son, having donned a work-er's clothes and been ac-cepted as one of them, learns the meaning of the secret sheets. They are directions for the meeting place where Maria, the worker's daughter with whom he has falled in love, preaches to the workers. He attends a gathering in the catacombs, hears Maria tell the tale of the con-struction of the Tower of Babel. This is graphically pictured. We see the noble dream of an ancient sky-scraper to reach to heaven. But the men who concieved the super-building had no care for the hands which would have to construct it. At last the slaves revolted and tore down the tremendous ediface. "Haldway be-tween the head and the hands must the heart be" was the moral of Ma-ria's tale. Freder listened entranced. John Fredersen, led to a secret observation vantage by Rowtang, also heard Maria's lecture. He did not like it. He instructed the inventor: "capture Maria. Make the robot into her likeness. Send it among the workers to stir up re-volt." /I must interject myself into this synopsis at this point to state that (cont. on page 22) ----( Page 4)----