D-503

A city, geometrically exact. Enormous, transparent cube-houses built of the „new glass“; and one could see how at the 10-th or 20-th stories of these houses are moving their inhabitants as if swiming in the air. Quite similar are all the houses; quite similar is the furnishing of rooms. Against the invasion of unorganized nature – of flowers, trees, birds, animals – the city is defended by the glass „Green Wall“, behind which are stretched endless green spaces where no mans foot stepped already for ages…

We are transferred for 1000 years forward from our epoch. All the revolutions, in await of which our generation is living, are already behind us. All the life is rationalized, standardized, calculated according to the Taylor s system. Even love is rationalized: everybody is examined in the sexual relation at the „Medical Bureau⁴ and receives there a certain number of „sexual days“ for a week and so called „rosy tickets“; these tickets are seeming for he-everybody or she-everybody the execution of their sexual wants, for a refusal is considered a crime and is punished by the State.

The confidence of the humanity – or, at least, of the State authorities – in the assuming of an absolute happiness is so great as its supposed to transfer this happiness even to other planets. For this purpose, under the managing of D-503 (names of course are replaced by figures and letters) is constructed the „Integral" – a rocket-plane for interplanetarian communications. Around the builder of this rocket-plane M-2 D-503 is developped the main intrigue.

D-503 is evidently one of the most able engineers of his epoch and he seems to be one of the most typical representatives of the mechanized „happy" humanity. During the usual walk (accompanied by the music of „Musical Works" trumpets) D-503 makes the acquaintance of a woman 1-330 which posseses some irony, has something incomprehensible for D-503 and therefore hostile for him as for the rationalized man; nevertheless this „incomprehensible" is attracting him, to his astonishment.

1-330 presents to him a „rosy ticket" and D-503 comes to see her at the appointed time. As it is used here in such a case, at the glass room are already lowered the curtains, but instead of simple „rational act" the hostess 1-330 smokes, to awe of her visitor, ancient „cigarettes"; she drinks some green spirit drink and the worse, while kissing makes him to gulp it too. These poisons – nicotin and alcool at the rationalized State, had been, of course, prohibited by a long ago and D-503 ought to go to the State’s „Guardians’ Bureau" and to let them know the crime, but he does not feel he has enough force to do it and because of this he himself becomes a part of the crime…