ELEKTROPOLIS (1928) – By Otfrid von Hanstein. Readers are introduced to Fritz, a young German engineer who has been having trouble finding a job. On what turns out to be a lucky Friday the Thirteenth for him, he gets a job offer from a mysterious Mr. Schmidt.
The pay is too good to turn down, but Fritz is sworn to secrecy and must abide by certain other peculiar terms. The engineer loves the money and is increasingly intrigued by the mysterious circumstances.
Fritz does as instructed and is taken to Australia, part of the way via a high-tech airplane which has no pilot and is completely automated. Similarly, once in Australia he boards a fully automated train which takes him to a cluster of iron huts in the desert of the Australian Outback. Continue reading
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