Project Gutenberg 2019-10-04 Public domain in the USA. 130 Walton, Bryce 1918 1988 O'Hara, Kenneth Security Produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, December 1957 Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "Security" by Bryce Walton is a science fiction short story written in the late 1950s. The narrative explores themes of paranoia, isolation, and the psychological impacts of extreme secrecy in a military context. The story centers around characters grappling with the consequences of their work on a high-security project during a war, raising questions about sanity and humanity in a world where personal relationships and communication are stifled. The plot follows Sam Lewis, an engineer entrenched in a categorized project that has rendered its brilliant thinkers into shadows of their former selves. The deteriorating conditions lead to a chaotic party atmosphere where intoxication is a coping mechanism for the scientists' frustrations and ennui. Sam's interaction with Betty Seton, a fellow scientist, culminates in a desperate escape attempt when he realizes the enormity of their confinement and loss of purpose. The climax builds as Lewis takes radical action to free himself and his colleagues from the clutches of the oppressive security state, ultimately learning that the outside world they feared has significantly changed — the war they thought was ongoing had actually ended years prior, leaving them disconnected from reality and their true selves. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 74.6 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Scientists -- Fiction United States -- Fiction Secrecy -- Fiction PS Text Category: Short Stories Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy 53993 2025-07-24T06:23:42.848839 text/html 30249 2024-10-17T14:04:20 text/html 100774 2025-07-24T06:23:44.639800 application/epub+zip 99626 2025-07-24T06:23:43.216843 application/epub+zip 84608 2025-07-24T06:23:43.007788 application/epub+zip 136364 2025-07-24T06:23:46.094790 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 129323 2025-07-24T06:23:44.441801 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 114477 2022-09-27T09:38:47.738765 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 47435 2025-07-24T06:23:42.747796 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 27737 2024-10-17T14:04:20 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17261 2025-07-24T06:23:46.225767 application/rdf+xml 29350 2025-07-24T06:23:43.092863 image/jpeg 5041 2025-07-24T06:23:43.050789 image/jpeg 315099 2025-07-24T06:23:42.858866 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia