# V: Priam’s Maw explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Frederik Pohl.

## What happens

The chapter details the perspective of an Adjuster, Besplex Priam's Maw, as she responds to a temporal disturbance caused by Foraminifera 9-Hart Bailey's Beam, who brought advanced weapons into 20th-century New York. Working alongside her father Alephplex, she helps quarantine the area, neutralize affected aboriginals, and prepare for the fabrication of simulacra to cover up the anachronisms.

## Themes in this chapter

### Technology and Dehumanization

Adjusters use advanced technology to neutralize and collapse humans, treating them as specimens to be replaced by simulacra, highlighting the dehumanizing effect of technological control.

### Alienation and Identity

Besplex operates under a guise as a short-order cook, compiling anthropometric data while feeling tired and alienated from the aboriginals she observes.

### Power and Corruption

The Central Authority's Adjusters wield immense power to quarantine and replace entire populations, suggesting a corrupt or indifferent oversight of temporal affairs.

## Character check-ins

### Alephplex Priam

Besplex's father and fellow Adjuster; assists in setting up the quarantine shield and neutralizing aboriginals.

### Uncle Lester

An aboriginal who notices the portatron's alarm and compares it to a ringing bell, prompting Besplex to investigate.

### Foraminifera 9-Hart Bailey's Beam

The rogue time traveler who brought weapons into the era; captured and neutralized by Besplex.

## Key lines

> Besplex Priam’s Maw, for God’s sake get me out of this!

Foraminifera begs Besplex to rescue him from his predicament.

_Foraminifera's plea reveals his desperation after being captured by aboriginals._

> I did not wait to hear what he wished to say further, but neutralized and collapsed him with the other aboriginals.

Besplex immediately incapacitates the aboriginal without listening to his request.

_Demonstrates the Adjusters' cold efficiency and disregard for individual pleas._

> We do not wish a repetition of the California incident, after all.

The Adjusters aim to avoid another large-scale cover-up like the one in California.

_References a prior event where the need for extensive simulacra replacement occurred._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_18_se/chapters/v-priam-s-maw
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_18_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_18_se/chapters