02439cam a22003733u 4500 77658 UtSlPG 20260610134811.0 m cr n 260607r20261955utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d UtSlPG en iso639-1 PS Jakes, John, 1932-2023 The cybernetic kid Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg, 2026 1 online resource : multiple file formats text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Produced from Fantastic Universe, February 1956 (Vol. 5, No. 1.). Release date is 2026-01-09 Tom Trussel (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) 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. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Originally published: New York: King-Size Publications, Inc., 1955 Science fiction Short stories Gifted children -- Fiction Freas, Kelly, 1922-2005 Produced from Fantastic Universe, February 1956 (Vol. 5, No. 1.). https://archive.org/details/Fantastic_Universe_v05n01_1956-02/mode/2up https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77658 118378 118378