22Xx

Descript. from [PRISMS]: About a robot, Jack, who appears frequently in Shimizu’s SF stories. He’s a robot with very human-like psyche. He once believed that he was human and he can even consume food, unlike many of the other robots of those times. While performing bounty-hunting duties on a strange planet, he has a flashback to the time he believes he was human… In this flashback, he and his partner are imprisoned and are given scarce food everyday. They share that meager meal, half and half. Yet as the days pass, the delivery of food becomes more scarce. His partner’s strength is waining (she’s a human being), yet Jack, though he feels the same consuming hunger as his partner, is physically still very apt. They’re rescued several months later, but his partner had already died from starvation. Jack, who finds out for the first time that he’s not human, still lives. – About a robot, Jack, who appears frequently in Shimizu’s SF stories. He’s a robot with very human-like psyche and he once believed that he was human and he can even consume food, unlike many of the other robots of those times. However, a cruel incident opened his eyes to the truth and he decided to perform bounty-hunting duties on a strange planet. That’s where he meets Ruby, who turns into an innocent-looking youngster and a beautiful and seducing woman at night… she’s a Photuris – a human tribe that preys on other humans in order to survive… This bunko volume starts of with the main story “22XX”, but also contains science-fiction stories like “To Be Loved At the Ends of Times”, “Continuation of the Dream”, “A Long Night in August” and “A Robot’s Mind (mimicry).”