O One by Chris Roberson

“O One” is a 2003 science fiction short story by Chris Roberson. It is about the chief computator, in an alternate history China, who is challenged by a new computing engine.

Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell:

Tsui is the Chief Computator in the Chinese Imperial House of Calculation. Like his father before him he presides over hundreds of men who use their skills with the abacus to further the Emperor’s work. Ah, its good to have a nice government job! However, when an English chap shows up with a new-fangled “analytical engine” he claims can correctly compute complicated sums Tsui gets nervous and is pressed into a challenge. What follows is lots of high tension number crunching! Oh, and few subtly placed words that give him one important edge over his competition.

Tsui was met in the antechamber by the Lord Chamberlain. With a look of stern reproach for the Chief Computator’s late arrival, the Chamberlain led Tsui into the hall, where they both knelt and kowtowed to the Emperor, touching foreheads to cold floor twice before waiting to be received.

“The Emperor does not like to be kept waiting,” said the Emperor, lazily running his fingers along the surface of the scarlet and gold object in his hands. “Begin.”

As the Emperor leaned forward, elbows resting on the carved arms of the ancient Manchurian throne, Tsui could see that the object in his hand was a representation in miniature of the proposed Imperial Space Craft. A much larger version, at fifty-percent scale, hung from the rafters of the hall overhead. It presented an imposing image of lacquered red cherry-wood and finely wrought gold, delicately sweeping fins and the imperial seal worked into the bulkheads above the forward viewing ports. That the Emperor did not like to be kept waiting was no secret. Since he’d first ascended to the Dragon Throne a decade before, he’d wanted nothing more than to travel to the heavens and had dedicated the resources of the world’s most powerful nation to that end. His ancestors had conquered three-quarters of the world centuries before, his grandfather and then his father had gone on to bring the remaining rogue states under the red banner of China, and now the Emperor of the Earth would conquer the stars.

My Two Cents:

• The good:

• This story, which takes its title from a play on the binary number system, has some really cool mathematical concepts – such as using goldfish and piranha as a type of biological calculator. C’mon – that *is* cool, even if you don’t live in a low-tech world!
• “O One” is reminiscent of some old American Tall Tales I heard (or rather “saw” as Disney cartoons) when I was a kid – especially Paul Bunyan vs. the chain saw and John Henry vs. the steam shovel.
• I liked the subtle hints in this story. Call me crazy, but I enjoy stories that let the reader figure out what really happens rather than explicitly explain every action. Good stuff that!

• The bad:

• The only thing I didn’t like about “O One” was that the online version had a few editorial blemishes – words left out, misspellings, things like that.

Fact Sheet:
• Page Count: 10
• Word Count: 5,326
• “O One” garnered the following awards:

• Winner of the 2003 Sidewise Award for Best Short-Form Alternate History.
• Nominated for the 2004 World Fantasy Award for Short Fiction.

Where you can find “O One”:

• This story first appeared in the 2003 short story collection edited by Lou Anders: Live Without A Net.
• You can read a free online version of “O One” at ChrisRoberson.net.

Some Interesting Links:

• Did you know that Chris Roberson, the author of “O One”, is the publisher of MonkeyBrain Books, an independent publishing house specializing in genre fiction and nonfiction genre studies? Yep. You can learn more about this science fiction author by reading the biography on his web site.
• Special thanks to SF Signal for pointing me towards this story. Check out John’s post where he reviews not only this story but several others in “The Celestial Empire” series – all set in the same alternate history world of a low-tech Chinese empire.
• Did you know that there really was an analytical engine? Sure, check out this Wikipedia article about the one invented by Charles Babbage in 1837.

Craving More Stories?
If you enjoyed this story then you might also like The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate, about a fabric merchant in ancient Baghdad who discovers a time portal, by Ted Chiang.

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