The Plagiarist From Rigel IV

A struggling writer buys a mysteriously cheap used typewriter that begins to type and to answer back, producing passages in the voices of well-known authors while correcting its operator and demanding that he supply the keystrokes. Their exchanges alternate comic banter and mounting frustration as the machine reproduces recognizable texts and even urges the narrator to reuse others' material, forcing him to confront questions of authorship and creative shortcuts. The story unfolds through the escalating interaction between man and device and is interrupted when a friend enters, leaving the ethical and humorous dilemma unresolved.