Prologue to an Analogue

In Short

Leigh Richmond’s science-fiction novella Prologue to an Analogue follows corporate executive Harvey Randolph, television news broadcaster Bill Howard, and ad agency mastermind Oswald as an advertising gimmick accidentally reshapes reality. When the International Witch Corporation airs commercials ordering its fictional "witches" to clean up disasters, the universe takes the command literally. Plagues vanish, New York slums transform overnight into gleaming modern housing, and a crippled child walks on live television. Written at the height of the Cold War, the story endures as a witty, prescient exploration of media saturation, collective human will, and the absurdity of geopolitics.

The Story

The plot centers on Harvey Randolph, owner of the International Witch Corporation (IWC), who hires the advertising agency Burton, Dester, Duston & Oswald to launch a dynamic new promotional campaign. The agency crafts a series of television spots featuring thirteen glamorous dancers dressed as witches who sing a cheerful jingle and demand that their cleaning products make the world "clean, clean, clean... NOW!"

The campaign debuts right as news anchor Bill Howard reports on a terrifying international crisis: an American-built submarine stuck in the Suez Canal is allegedly leaking laboratory-bred bacteria, threatening a global pandemic and biological war. Immediately following Howard’s grim broadcast, the IWC commercial airs, depicting the witches spraying down a submarine while chanting for disease to be swept away. The next morning, the crisis miraculously evaporates; international inspectors find the Suez submarine entirely sterile and the local population in perfect health.

Unaware that his commercial caused the resolution, Oswald decides to capitalize on the public mood by staging a high-profile slum clearance in New York City. On live television, Howard highlights a impoverished family living in squalor, followed by the witch commercial demanding an instant cleanup. By morning, the crumbling tenement has physically transformed into a brand-new, modern apartment complex. Rather than celebrating, the displaced residents react with terror, fleeing the building and calling the transformation the devil's work.

Meanwhile, international tensions escalate as a foreign biological attack strikes Formosa with a devastating, incurable nerve pathogen. Simultaneously, Oswald attempts another publicity stunt, claiming IWC will pay for a costly operation to cure a crippled ten-year-old girl named Mary. During the live broadcast, as the witches chant their signature slogan, Mary stands up from her wheelchair and walks across the stage. The public decries the event as a cynical hoax, Randolph threatens lawsuits, and the network cancels the show.

Yet Bill Howard realizes the truth: the collective focus of millions of viewers, catalyzed by the television broadway broadcast, is literally reshaping physical reality. Recognizing that Formosa is dying and full-scale nuclear war is imminent, Howard takes a desperate gamble. Defying network censors during his evening news report on the Formosa horror, he looks directly into the camera and bellows the witch slogan himself. The plague instantly disappears, leaving global superpowers bewildered. Realizing that human belief channeled through mass media can alter the universe, Howard sits at his typewriter to channel this force once more to enforce world peace.

How It Unfolds

The Suez Miracle Bill Howard reports on a fatal biological submarine crisis in Suez, immediately followed by an IWC commercial where dancing witches spray a sub and demand absolute cleanliness. By the next day, international teams confirm the crisis has vanished without a trace, leaving officials baffled.

The Slum Transformation Capitalizing on the buzz, ad man Oswald targets a New York slum, broadcasting the poverty-stricken Jones family before running the witch commercial. Overnight, the dilapidated tenement literally transforms into a pristine, newly constructed building, though the terrified residents flee from what they consider witchcraft.

The Accidental Healer To counter rising public backlash and suspicion of demonic activity, the ad agency arranges for IWC to sponsor a surgical procedure for Mary, a young crippled girl. Before any surgery takes place, the live commercial airs and Mary instantly walks, causing the public to denounce the company for pulling a cruel hoax.

The Final Broadcast As an incurable biological weapon decimates Formosa and pushes superpowers toward nuclear retaliation, Bill Howard connects the dots regarding the commercial's true power. Interrupting his live newscast on the Formosa disaster, he shouts the witch chant directly into the camera, instantly curing the island and halting the impending world war.

The People

• Harvey Randolph: The prim, cautious owner of International Witch Corporation. Randolph desires modest business growth and quiet respectability, but he is constantly bewildered and horrified by the unpredictable, reality-bending consequences of his ad agency's reckless marketing schemes.
• Bill Howard: A beloved, shaggy-haired news anchor who aims to deliver truthful, human-centered reporting to the American public. Standing between media sensationalism and geopolitical panic, Howard becomes the first person to deduce the mind-over-matter mechanism behind the commercials, ultimately using his platform to save humanity.
• Oswald: An overly enthusiastic, aggressive advertising executive at BDD&O. Oswald cares only about skyrocketing viewer ratings and sales charts, completely ignoring the bizarre, supernatural outcomes of his campaigns until lawsuits and network cancellations threaten his livelihood.
• Mary: A shy, ten-year-old girl bound to a wheelchair for three years. She simply wishes to walk, becoming the innocent focal point through which the latent psychic power of the television audience manifests a physical cure on live television.

In Its Own Voice

"Witches of the world, unite--to make it clean, clean, clean, Witch clean--NOW!" The central jingle chanted by thirteen dancing performers, which unexpectedly serves as the verbal trigger for world-altering psychic phenomena.

"Mr. Oswald," Randolph's voice took on a note of imperious prissiness. "Would you mind explaining just exactly what you are talking about?" Harvey Randolph's bewildered response upon learning that an international diplomatic crisis had dissolved overnight following his company's commercial.

"Who are the witches? Why, they're the people, and they're not for burning." Bill Howard's realization as he types out his final notes, coming to terms with the latent, collective power of humanity.

What It's Really About

At its core, Prologue to an Analogue is a satirical critique of Cold War brinkmanship and mass media saturation. Leigh Richmond examines the concept of "Finagle's Law"—the idea that outcomes rarely match expectations—and flips it to explore how collective human intent might yield unintended positive consequences. The story asks what happens when the tools of corporate consumerism and television broadcasts accidentally tap into a latent, democratic magic residing within the public itself. Underneath the humor lies a serious argument: geopolitical leaders and military institutions are locked in destructive insanities, whereas the ordinary populace possesses an innate desire for health, safety, and resolution.

Why Read It Today

Science fiction enthusiasts and modern readers interested in media satire will appreciate Richmond’s fast-paced, entertaining narrative. The novella feels strikingly contemporary in its depiction of viral media trends, corporate public relations spinnery, and the absurdity of 24-hour news cycles driving public emotion.

Reading the work today presents minor period hurdles, such as 1960s Cold War terminology, traditional gender portrayals in advertising, and the straightforward, unadorned prose typical of mid-century pulp magazines like Analog Science Fact & Fiction. However, the story moves with crisp efficiency and sharp dialogue. What stays with the reader is the story's optimistic and clever premise: that beneath our superficial consumption of trashy commercials and terrifying news, the unified desire of ordinary people might be the most powerful force in the universe.