Paycheck (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Philip K. Dick
- First Published: 1953
- Type of Work: Short story
- Genres: Short fiction, Science fiction, Near future and distant future fiction
- Subjects: Memory, Future, Time travel, Identity, Engineering
Jennings is an engineer who agreed to work for two years for Rethrick Construction and have his memory erased afterward to protect company secrets. Instead of the money promised at the end of his contract, however, Jennings discovers his pre-erasure self asked to be paid with a collection of odd items: a code key, a ticket stub, a parcel receipt, a length of wire, half a poker chip, a green cloth, and a bus token.
As Jennings tries to unravel why his earlier self would request such items, he uncovers the truth of Rethrick Construction—also known as The Company—and the...
[The entire page is 520 words long]
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