Apparently, Jennings agreed to work as a specialized mechanic for two years at Rethrick Construction, having his memory wiped at the end in return for 50,000 credits—except instead of a bag full of credits, the memory-wiped Jennings is left holding a bag of seven trinkets and no idea why he would have agreed to such a thing.
—Michael Main
But the big puzzle: how had he—his earlier self—known that a piece of wire and a bus token would save his life? He had known, all right. Known in advance. But how? And the other five. Probably they were just as precious, or would be.

Tags

(10)

Variants

(1)
  1. “Paycheck” by Philip K. Dick, Imagination, June 1953.
    2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Philip K. Dick

Translations

(9)
  1. French.
    “La clause du salaire” by Philip K. Dick, in Le grand O (DenoëlMay 1988).
    2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Philip K. Dick
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . narrated by Pierre-Paul Durastanti
  2. French.
    “La clause de salaire” by Philip K. Dick, in Paycheck et autres récits (Gallimard, February 2004).
    3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Philip K. Dick
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . narrated by Hélène Collon
  3. German.
    “Zahltag” by Philip K. Dick, in Kolonie (Haffmans, 1999).
    4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Philip K. Dick
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . narrated by Walter Grossbein
  4. German: alternative title of “Zahltag.”
    “Paycheck: Die Abrechnung” by Philip K. Dick, in Paycheck: Die Abrechnung (Heyne, February 2004).
    5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Philip K. Dick
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . narrated by Walter Grossbein
  5. Italian.
    “Previdenza” by Philip K. Dick, in Le presenze invisibili, vol. 1 (Interno Giallo, June 1994).
    6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Philip K. Dick
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . narrated by Vittorio Curtoni
  6. Japanese.
    ペイチェック, as by フィリップ・K・ディック, in 変数人間 ( 早川書房, November 2013).
    7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Philip K. Dick as by フィリップ・K・ディック
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . narrated by 浅倉久志
  7. Polish.
    “Wypłata” by Philip K. Dick, in Krótki szczęśliwy żywot brązowego oksforda (Dom Wydawniczy Rebis, 2014).
    8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Philip K. Dick
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . narrated by unknown persons
  8. Portuguese.
    “O pagamento” by Philip K. Dick, in Pago para esquecer (Editorial Presença, August 2004).
    9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Philip K. Dick
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . narrated by Saul Barata
  9. Portuguese.
    “O pagamento” by Philip K. Dick, in Realidades adaptadas: os contos de Philip K. Dick que inspiraram grandes sucessos do cinema (Editora Aleph, August 2012).
    10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Philip K. Dick
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . narrated by Ludimila Hashimoto

Derived Works

(1)
  1. Paycheck by Dean Georgaris, directed by John Woo (25 December 2003).