# Pid — Short Fiction character guide

> Pid in Short Fiction by Robert Sheckley.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Nervously Pid

**First appearance:** 0000-final-examination

## Snapshot

One of three bored crewmen watching a dial for alien contact, Pid's sector is quiet until his shipmates decide to stop waiting and go pick a fight.

## Who they are

Pid belongs to a small, claustrophobic watch crew — Cassel, Morse, Edwardson — stuck in a ship with a detector dial, a greasy deck of cards, and a mounting dread of the mind-grabbing aliens they're supposed to be monitoring. The tedium curdles into bravado: they gamble imaginary millions, needle each other about scars and beards, and finally decide to disobey command and fly out to meet the enemy themselves. Their reckless initiative — and the dial that hasn't moved — sets the story's central question in motion.

## Relationships

### [Ger the Detector](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_48_se/characters/ger_the_detector)

_professional_

Ger the Detector and Pid work as a team, with Ger relying on Pid's technical skills.

### [Ger the Detector](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_48_se/characters/ger_the_detector)

_professional_

Ger the Detector and Pid work as a team, with Ger relying on Pid's technical skills.

### [Ger the Detector](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_48_se/characters/ger_the_detector)

_professional_

Ger the Detector and Pid work as a team, with Ger relying on Pid's technical skills.

## In the story

### [Keep Your Shape](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_48_se/chapters/keep-your-shape)

Pilot of the Grom expedition; struggles with duty versus the temptation of Shapelessness.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_48_se/characters/pid
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_48_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_48_se/characters