The cybernetic kid

About The cybernetic kid

The cybernetic kid by John Jakes is a humorous science fiction short story written in the mid-20th century. It centers on a child prodigy pitted against electronic “brains” to satirize public anxiety about machines and the crass commercialization of genius. Hustler Fred Ajax and his ex-wrestler sidekick Sailor Burns discover seven-year-old math whiz Dennis Ogg, whose stiff guardian Ellsworth Cranch forces nonstop study. Sensing a draw, Ajax stages tent-show races: Dennis versus a cybernetic calculator, with crowds paying to watch the boy outpace the machine. The act grows, cash rolls in, and a renowned academic, Dr. Hockelbach, challenges them with the massive computer Egbert IX. On the big day Dennis vanishes after bingeing on snacks and Orange-dee-lite; Ajax and the Sailor find him wreaking tipsy havoc in the park, drag him back, and—running late—he still solves the problem minutes faster than Egbert IX, cheekily crediting the soda. Afterward, a queasy but content Dennis learns his guardian has “mellowed,” promising a looser, more childlike life ahead.

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