Make me an offer

"Make Me an Offer" by Con Blomberg is a science fiction story where a city's future is in the hands of the Civic Machine. This machine controls everything, but things get shaky when Ross Ro, the city manager, wants to put a roof over Central Park to make it better. However, not everyone agrees with this plan, especially Mrs. Hatty Dakkon, who leads the charge to protect natural experiences for children. Ro tries to use the machine to get people on his side, but it backfires big time when Dakkon and her friends use the machine in their own way, which causes chaos and gelatin molds. This leads to Ro dropping the project and realizing that the needs of the people are more important than technology. So, the story uses humor to show what happens when we rely too much on machines and forget to listen to what the community actually wants.