Iskalde Grøss #5/1989

In "Fortapt i mikrokosmos," Karl stumbles upon a forgotten experiment when he visits Professor Dreeben, recalling a colleague who mastered a shrinking solution. What begins as a scientific curiosity spirals into an unexpected journey as Karl himself is caught in the process, shrinking down to a scale where entire civilizations unfold before him—only to find that even within this microcosm, the boundaries of reality blur.

In "Stilleben!", a crew of space pilots lands on Pluto and stumbles upon a colossal statue of a reptilian creature. At first, it seems inert—until they notice it has shifted, just slightly, and then begins to move with terrifying purpose. As they flee back to their ship, they realize the planet’s extreme time dilation has warped their perception: they’ve been moving at a near-standstill all along, and now, even after returning to Earth, their slowed motion makes them appear frozen in death to everyone else.

In a twist of absurd politics and alien infiltration, the American electorate—fed up with conventional candidates—elects "Allie," the handpuppet from a children’s show, as president. But when the puppet’s strange behavior begins to unsettle the nation, it becomes clear that Allie is no ordinary toy, and the real threat lies in the tiny, parasitic alligator creature fused to his puppeteer’s hand.

In the year 4152, where eternal youth is enforced by injections, Martin—550 years old and weary of endless life—meets Jean, a woman as jaded as he is. Their unexpected connection sparks a fragile hope as they’re sent to a remote colony planet, stripped of the immortality treatments, to live out their natural lives.

In "Baksmell!", a grieving man named Walter is offered a shocking choice by a hospital lab tech: enter a realm where his late wife still lives, among several possible planes of existence. Though desperate to reunite with her, Walter soon finds the reality he’s entered is far more complicated—and unsettling—than he ever imagined.

In "Overmennesket," Niels, a scientist obsessed with manipulating atomic mass, finds his brother Charlemagne more drawn to physical strength than scientific inquiry. When Charlemagne visits Niels’s lab, he secretly exposes himself to the machine’s rays—gaining superhuman power, but at a terrible cost. As the strength fades, the consequences begin to unfold, leaving Charlemagne’s fate uncertain.

In "Små kår," the owners of a struggling arena face ruin as rival "The Garden" draws crowds with its grand scale. Desperate, they turn to a scientist who promises a radical solution: a way to make spectators shrink unnoticed upon entering, allowing more people to fit inside. But when the process goes awry, the consequences ripple beyond the arena's walls.

In "Jeg døde i morgen!", physicist Pavlonis confronts university President Davis, who initially rejects his job application. When Pavlonis reveals a working time machine, Davis sees only a chance to profit from horse racing—until Pavlonis, faced with threats, begins to question whether the machine’s true purpose lies beyond mere exploitation.