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I have read this short story long time ago in a Czech anthology so the author might originally be from Russia.

The story is about a scientist making a bombastic announcement that humans are robots controlled by aliens. Obviously nobody believes him. At the end of the story the scientist is summoned in front of some aliens who told him that he is causing too much trouble.

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  • Do you remember roughly when you read the story? That’s often helpful for narrowing it down. – alexwlchan May 17 '15 at 6:19
  • It was before 1995. – Korusef May 18 '15 at 15:43
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Either this is the story I am thinking of or it is damned close. The story is Sitting Duck, and was published in a short-story collection The 6 Fingers Of Time and Other Stories. I don't remember the author.

The story goes like this: a guy goes on a hunting trip with his father-in-law. They set up in a duck blind and wait. The father-in-law explains that all the decoy equipment they use is only useful to a point, that in every flock there is one smart duck who sees through the illusion, and that's the duck you shoot first, so he doesn't alert the rest. The guy then proceeds to go through a series of experiences which show that aliens are doing something similar (setting up a fake store and shooting the people who shop there from behind a false wall, fake robot people being used to fool them and all) and realizes that he is the smart duck, and the aliens are gunning for him.

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    The ISFDB is your friend. The story you're thinking of is "Sitting Duck" by Daniel F. Galouye, collected in the anthology The 6 Fingers of Time and Other Stories. I don't see any resemblance to the OP's description. – user14111 May 17 '15 at 8:51
  • Thanks- difficult to be so extensive from a cell phone :/. Sitting Duck main character isn't a scientist, but he is running around trying to convince people that folks that he meets are actually robots and the aliens are displeased with him. Given the lack of details, it sounds similar enough that I thought that Korusef might be hazy about remembered details. – Broklynite May 17 '15 at 9:12
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    No ducks involved in my story. – Korusef May 18 '15 at 15:44

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