The author Mary Robinette Kowal gets back in the limelight with her short story- By the Pricking of My Robotic Thumbs. This story revolves around a pianist named Inez Townsend. She was facing the dilemma of wearing artificial thumbs to play Twelve Fingers. She was initially skeptical of them. But she ended up accepting them after her performance.

The novel front is brimming with science stories. However, only a few of them dare to go a step ahead to show their application in mundane. They try to make it connect to real life. These alluring stories go a long way in standing out in the domain. Weaving that front, a few stories celebrate the union of science and art. Taking on that note, the author Mary Robinette Kowal has grabbed the limelight with the short story By the Pricking of My Robotic Thumbs.

An American pianist named Inez Townsend bagged a scholarship to the Iceland Academy of the Arts. She joined the jury at Harpa concert hall. They were addressing a press conference to announce the winner of the competition. Not just that, they were also up to introduce the winner to them. The jury had the starry names of Sóldís Vilhjálmsdottir and Ragnhildur Leifsdottir from the music world.

Introducing Ragnhildur, Sóldís said, “First, please meet our new composer in residence, Ragnhildur Leifsdottir. Ragnhildur is an Icelandic composer, of course, who had studied at the Royal College of Music in London before returning here. She has already had success in Europe with her work, Autumn Concerto. Tell them what you have written for us.”

Revealing her composition, she said that she had written the piece for solo piano with twelve fingers. Hearing that, Inez got perplexed. She did not have augmented thumbs to play the piece. Controlling her fear, she kept smiling. After the conference, Inez expressed her disappointment to Sóldís. According to her, they should have asked her before deciding that.

Worsening the situation for her, Sóldís offered her to leave if she was not comfortable with that piece. They would award her scholarship to some runner-up. Inez needed that scholarship and visa to stay in Iceland and shape her future. Therefore, she did not have a choice. Sóldís told her that they would arrange the best robotic thumbs. She got back home with a heavy heart.

On hearing about the announcement about twelve fingers composition, her parents called up. They were curious to know if she was to wear thumbs. According to them, that would rewrite her mind, and she would never be able to get them off.

But she could not waste time bickering about it. She pulled out the robotic thumbs and put them on. Initially, she struggled with them. She had to control the thumbs with her toes. In that struggle, she ended up spilling her hot coffee. But she did not give up. Finally, the night came. She walked on the stage wearing her robotic thumbs.

Holding her pricky nerves back, she delivered a scintillating performance. She managed to pull off an encore in front of her audience gracefully. Her performance won a huge round of applause. Her parents called her up to express their delight. They were proud of her. Not just that, she also received praise from Ragnhildur. The legend invited her for cocktails with her team.

Inez was over the moon. However, her fear came true. She could not be natural anymore without her robotic thumbs. Thus, she ended up accepting them as a part of her body.