When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger
"When Gravity Fails" is a science fiction novel set in a futuristic Muslim city known as Budayeen, where societal norms regarding identity and physical alteration have shifted dramatically. The protagonist, Marîd Audran, is a hustler and occasional detective who navigates a world where people frequently undergo sex changes and brain modifications, using technology to adopt new personalities or gain specific skills. The narrative begins when Marîd's client is murdered, leading him to confront a series of violent events tied to a complex conspiracy involving assassins and political intrigue.
As Marîd seeks to uncover the truth behind the murders, he grapples with his resistance to becoming surgically modified, ultimately succumbing to the pressure of acquiring enhancements that amplify his physical abilities. The story explores themes of identity, autonomy, and the moral dilemmas associated with technological enhancements. Amidst the chaos, Marîd is thrust into a web of betrayal and violence, ultimately emerging as a reluctant hero. The novel raises questions about humanity, the impact of technology on personal identity, and the consequences of navigating a treacherous social landscape.
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When Gravity Fails
First published: 1986
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Science fiction—cyberpunk
Time of work: The late twenty-second century
Locale: The Budayeen, a rough neighborhood in an unnamed Arabic city
The Plot
Marîd Audran is a hustler and occasional detective in the Budayeen, the dangerous quarter of a future Muslim city. In his time, sex changes and other physical alterations are common. Many people get their brains “wired” for “moddies” and “daddies.” Moddies are recorded personalities that plug into the brain to submerge an individual’s actual personality, letting the person become a fictional character, for example. Daddies add specific knowledge, such as how to speak a foreign language. Marîd resists being surgically modified, though he does modify himself with drugs.
When Gravity Fails begins when Marîd’s client is murdered by someone wearing a James Bond moddy. Later, a former girlfriend of Marîd, Nikki, calls in a favor. She wants to quit working as a prostitute, which means that Marîd must talk to someone named Hassan, who directs such things for Friedlander Bey, the most powerful man in the city.
Marîd reaches a financial agreement with Hassan, but Nikki fails to pay for her freedom, and Marîd is held responsible. While looking for Nikki, Marîd finds one of her friends tortured and murdered. Another friend is soon shot, and then Nikki’s pimp is tortured and killed. Friedlander Bey, who is no easy man to refuse, asks Marîd to find the killer. He also wants Marîd to be wired for moddies and daddies. Marîd rejects surgery at first but then agrees after finding Nikki brutally murdered. He gets an experimental implant with two plugs instead of one, as well as software to block hunger, pain, and other bodily demands. He also gets a “black daddy” that will drive him into an insane rage and give him almost superhuman strength in an emergency.
Another of Nikki’s friends is murdered, in a manner different from the others, and a threat written in blood tells Marîd that he is next. Marîd begins to think that the murderer is wearing moddies during the killings. Another threatening note is left for Marîd. The killer says that he was James Bond but now is someone else. Marîd takes the note to Lieutenant Okking, a policeman, who reveals that Bond had been working for him but has turned rogue and is now using the moddy of a famous mass murderer, Xarghis Khan.
Marîd’s original client, killed by Bond, was part of a European plot to overthrow the Byelorussian monarchy. Both the right-wing Germans and the left-wing communists wanted to use as a pawn the crown prince of Byelorussia, who was Marîd’s former girlfriend, Nikki, after having undergone a sex change. Okking was working for the Germans. Each side has an assassin in the city killing everyone involved in the plan.
Bond/Khan corners Marîd, but the detective’s augmented brain helps him win the fight. Everyone except Marîd believes that Khan was acting alone. Marîd is a hero but cannot rest because he knows there is another killer loose. He becomes suspicious of Hassan and investigates, only to find the man torturing Okking. Hassan is the second killer and is Nikki’s murderer. Hassan shoots Marîd, but the detective plugs in his black daddy. In his uncontrollable rage, Marîd kills both Hassan and Okking. Marîd awakes in the hospital and then goes to see Friedlander Bey, who has appointed the detective to the police force. Bey is a cultural figure who wields great power in the Muslim world, and Marîd thinks that he cannot refuse. His old friends now distrust him, as they distrust all cops. Marîd is more alone than ever.