You walk into what claims to be a bank and instead
find a sterile-looking environment
criss-crossed with conveyor belts. You see people in white coats
walking briskly to and fro, jotting notes on clipboards and
occasionally messing with
the futuristic devices riding along the belts.
You spot a plaque on the wall:
Well, that explains why this city reminds you of a
William Gibson
novel. You turn to leave when scientist brushes past you, then stops.
"Dr Firestone, we've been looking forward to your
arrival! I'm so
glad you made it a day early. Let me
get you a lab coat and you can start giving us your ideas for our new
product lines." She rushes you past the security desk, throws a lab
coat to you, and before you can say anything you've got a clipboard in
your hand and you're looking at some sort of computerized implant
riding along a conveyor belt.
"Now, here's a list of items we need prototypes for
ASAP." She stops
and smiles at you. "And don't worry, we pay in solid credit chips as
soon as those prototypes are in our hands."
You look at the list she's given you. Hey, might as
well enjoy the
mistaken identity and pick up a bit of cash... er, credit chips... so
you can afford dinner tonight.
Bring us 10 credits worth of these items for every member of your team
who is an MIT student, faculty, staff, or alum, and 20 credits worth
for every member who is not.
Credit values are listed with the item. Whether or not your item is
close enough to the original to pass is largely up to the whims of the
person inspecting it, and will likely depend on it having the most
defining characteristics of the original. "Clever" interpretations of
items will be accepted if your judge is in a good mood. The prototype
must perform its intended function at least well enough to fool a
gullible small child. Scale models are okay for large items.
- 10: A burned book (Fahrenheit 451)
- 10: Spice (Dune)
- 10: A transmogrifier (Calvin and Hobbes)
- 15: 1lb of Reese's Pieces (ET)
- 15: 1lb of Jelly babies (Dr. Who)
- 15: A person wearing at least seven microsofts (Neuromancer)
- 15: Liquid Schwartz (Spaceballs)
- 15: A specimen (Twelve Monkeys)
- 20: A dilithium crystal (Star Trek)
- 20: Ice-9 (Cat's Cradle)
- 20: Fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies (The Matrix)
- 20: A completed form 27B/6 (Brazil)
- 20: Destroyed, buried Statue of Liberty (Planet of the Apes)
- 25: Evolution-inducing monolith (2001, A Space Odyssey)
- 25: Map of Innsmouth (A Walking Tour of the British Coastline)
- 25: Postcard from Shell Beach (Dark City)
- 25: A menu from Milliways (The Restaurant at the End of the
Universe)
- 30: The Bishop's bird stump (To Say Nothing of the Dog)
- 30: The world's first truly accurate clock (Small Gods)
- 30: Teddy (AI)
- 30: An android cat (BladeRunner)
- 30: A flux capacitor (Back to the Future)
- 35: A "fixer" (*batteries not included)
- 40: A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (The Diamond Age)
- 40: R2-D2 (Star Wars)
- 40: A neuralizer (Men in Black)
- 40: Time vault containing Hari Seldon (Foundation)
- 40: The fifth element (The Fifth Element)
- 40: Portal to Dimension X (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
- 40: M&M Double-helix (must be edible) (Mission to Mars)
- 50: Johnny Five (Short Circuit)
- 50: Vids of Mazer Rackham defeating the buggers (Ender's Game)
(must be viewable in VHS or DVD or on a standard athena cluster
machine)