The Status Civilization

by Robert Sheckley

He believed it....

And swung his fist into the hated face reflected in the metal.

There was a moment of dazzling pain, and then he lost consciousness. When he came to, he was alone in his own home on Earth. His arm and shoulder ached, and several of his ribs seemed to be broken. On his left hand he bore the stigmata of the trichomotred's bite.

But with his cut and bleeding right hand he had smashed the mirror. He had shattered it and Barrent₁ utterly and forever.

OMEGA

RELIGION:
THE WORSHIP OF EVIL

PLEASURES:
THE THRILL OF THE HUNT, WITH HUMAN PREY

STATUS:
ATTAINED ONE CORPSE AT A TIME

LIFE EXPECTANCY:
THREE EARTH YEARS

"ALL OF YOU ARE CRIMINALS THEREFORE MANKIND HAS REJECTED YOU, AND YOU HAVE BEEN SENT TO A WORLD WHERE YOUR OWN SORT IS KING. HERE YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN RULES, AND DIE BY THEM ..."