This story left me asking myself a variation on an age-old question: What is the difference between fantasy and science fiction?
I think I've garnered an understanding that there can often be overlaps, especially when Clarke's Laws come into play ('any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic') but even then, there's usually some sort of tie-in that I can use to make the connection. For example, the Dragon Riders of Pern started out as a pretty straightforward fantasy that ended up being exactly the opposite, a science fiction saga involving interstellar colonization, genetic engineering, psionic talents, time travel, etc. On the surface, it looked like basic sword & sorcery-class escapist fantasy, but when I got to a certain point, I realized I had been led down the garden path.
By the standards above, what does that say for Robert Heinlein's 'Job: A Comedy of Justice'? It's also classified as science fiction, but it has the same hidden element that I can't follow to differentiate it from fantasy.
Clearly, this is something of a personal failing on my part and rather than sit in a corner scratching my head perplexidly over it, I throw myself upon the collective brains of the community. Help this one get the answer to that most basic of comprehension questions in this regard: What am I missing?