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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d1e51fa --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #66163 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66163) diff --git a/old/66163-0.txt b/old/66163-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 524e5e2..0000000 --- a/old/66163-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3504 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Cyberene, by Rog Phillips - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Cyberene - -Author: Rog Phillips - -Release Date: August 29, 2021 [eBook #66163] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CYBERENE *** - - - - - THE CYBERENE - - By Rog Phillips - - Somewhere in the far future a diabolical - brain plotted the enslavement of mankind. But - to do that a history had to be changed--ours! - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy - September 1953 - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -"Victor!" - -Her voice shattered the cathedral silence, going the full four hundred -and fifty foot perimeter of the fourteen foot wide floor that encircled -the case of the _Brain_. The echo rebounded from the maze of ladders -and catwalks that went up and up until they were lost to view where the -fifteen foot thick outer wall began its upward slope to form the giant -dome. - -The silence returned; as motionless as the needles on the instrument -panels resting on their zero pegs, unactivated; as enduring in essence -as the atom proof concrete dome built to last--as long as the Earth -itself. - -Then--a sound answered. A faint sound. Footsteps. Movement appeared -through the grillwork of steel catwalks above. Trousered legs. A hand -sliding along a railing of chrome pipe. More rapid steps as the man -descended a steep stair well. Sharper as the man reached the marble -floor. - -Dead video camera eyes let his passage go unregistered. Sensitive -quartz crystals inside glistening microphone shells vibrated to the -sound of his footsteps, his soft breathing, sending feeble currents -along wires--to dead amplifying circuits. - -"What is it, Ethel?" Dr. Victor Glassman said to his wife. - -"Don't you realize it's almost an hour past your lunch time?" she -chided. "Why do you come in here anyway? The Brain was completed six -months ago. It won't run away--and it won't come to life until someone -finds the proper chemical for the nerve fluid to make it work. My -goodness. Eight hundred and fifty million dollars sitting idle in here. -It gives me gooseflesh. Now you come and eat your lunch so I can -get the dishes out of the way. I'm going to be busy the rest of the -afternoon getting ready for the crowd--or did you forget that your ten -scientists are invited to dinner this evening?" - -"Of course not, Ethel," he said, putting his arm around her waist. He -pulled her around so they were side by side, looking upward into the -maze of catwalks, seeing the marble panels of the wall that served as a -covering for the huge man-made brain. "_You_ know why I come in here," -he said. "I like the feel. The sleeping giant. Not sleeping, really. -Just not born yet. Not living yet. Someday soon that will change. The -first non-human...." - -"I understand, Victor," Ethel said softly. "It scares me. I know it -will be just like a human mind--same principles of thought--even if -it will be housed in so vast a brain. But how much do we know of the -capabilities of the _human_ brain? I'm afraid." - -Dr. Glassman's eyes crinkled goodnaturedly. He tightened his arm around -her waist. - -"I'll protect you, Ethel," he said. - -She looked up at the giant structure that dwarfed them to -insignificance. "Against that?" she snorted. "What with? A lance and -prancing nag of leather and bones like Don Quixote of old?" She -slipped her arm around his shoulders, her expression softening. "But I -know what you mean. Only ... it's...." - -"And I know what you mean, too. Sometimes even I'm afraid of it. -But once we activate it, it will take years for it to build up a -self-integrated mind even equal to a child's. And we'll both be long -dead before its intelligence starts climbing above that of man. You -know, I'm hungry." - -Together, arm in arm, they departed, closing the door. And once again -the echoes died away, leaving only the silence. - -And the Brain. - - * * * * * - -"How about being quiet for a minute so I won't get these mixed -up?" Earl Frye said, a mask of tolerant good nature concealing his -irritation. "By the way, what's wrong with p. n. 9? Bottleneck?" - -Irene Conner clapped her hand over her mouth and spoke from between her -fingers. "Go ahead and pour," she mumbled. "I'll keep quiet for five -minutes." - -"Okay," Earl said, unaffected by the twinkle in Irene's clear blue -eyes, the smooth wave of her blonde hair, the quiet unscientific curves -under her lab apron. - -He picked the first vial off the tray, read the number on its label and -carefully jotted it down on the lab card. He emptied the vial into -the small opening on top the pump and flicked the toggle switch. With -a smooth whir the pump started. The pressure gauge needle broke from -zero and started upward, finally hovering near the seven ton per square -inch mark. He watched as the fluid he had poured emerged into glass -tubing no thicker than a human hair, and, under the tons per square -inch pressure, stretched into fine fluid columns less than half a dozen -molecules thick. - -He repeated the performance with another vial and another pump, and -another, until all ten pumps were working. He went back to the first -one. The fluid had reached the slightly enlarged bubble several inches -up the thread-like glass tubes. He shut off the pump, then went through -the same routine with the other ten. - -"That show I want to see is on at the Rialto, Earl," Irene said. "Just -tonight and tomorrow night." - -"Good," Earl grunted, starting to recheck the charts. "Let me know if -you liked it. If it's any good I might go see it." - -"Why don't you come see it with me?" Irene said. - -"Uh," Earl hesitated, not looking up from a chart he was studying. - -He was saved by the hall door opening. - -"Hi, Basil," he said, taking in Basil Nelson's expression of mild -haste, and the empty test tube in his hand. - -Irene frowned in annoyance. - -Basil looked at her with a mixture of apology and hopefulness, then -turned to Earl. "Uh, I came in to borrow some base formula," he said. -"Just need a few cc's and didn't want to take the time to get a full -gallon from the storeroom." - -"Help yourself," Earl said. He grinned sidewise at Irene. "By the way, -Irene is looking for someone to go with her to see some show that's on -at the Rialto." - -"I'll be glad to," Basil said eagerly. - -"No thanks," Irene said. "I'm going with my aunt." - -"Your aunt?" Basil said. "I didn't know you had an aunt living in -Crestmont." He went to a supply shelf over a wall bench and poured some -base formula from a rubber tube dangling from a large bottle. - -"She just arrived in town," Irene said dryly. - -"Can I meet her?" Basil said coming back from the supply shelf. He was -facing Irene and half facing Earl. He was in a position so that there -was nothing between him and the window across the room. - -"Sorry," Irene said. "She's leaving town in the morning. I'm sure--Oh, -how can you be so clumsy, Basil?" - - * * * * * - -The test tube had dropped from his hand. Small glass fragments and the -oily fluid were spattered on the floor and his shoes. He was examining -a small cut on the inside of his thumb that was beginning to bleed. - -"Clumsy?" he said absently. "Oh no. I didn't drop the test tube. It -broke in my hand." - -"It couldn't have," Irene said accusingly. "You dropped it." - -"What's the difference?" Earl said. "Here. I'll get you another test -tube with some base fluid. No harm done." - -He opened a drawer and took out a new test tube. When he was closing -the drawer he glanced absently toward the window. His eyes widened. -"What the devil!" he exclaimed. "Look at that. The window's broken too." - -"That's odd--too strange a coincidence," Basil frowned. - -"Supersonic vibrations?" Earl said, smiling. "Maybe a foreign spy has -heard of Project Synthetic Nerve Fluid and was trying to kill Basil -with a new secret weapon!" - -"Ha ha," Basil said without humor. He accepted the test tube of base -formula from Earl. "Thanks, Earl," he said. He went to the door. There -he turned appealingly to Irene. "I would like to take you--and your -aunt--to the show, Irene," he said. - -"Sorry," Irene said, smiling at him sympathetically. "We'll have too -much we want to talk about." - -"Uh--okay," Basil said unhappily. - -"He's such a jerk," Irene said when Basil had left. "All he would do is -fawn over me all evening. I'd--I'd rather go alone," she added, looking -at Earl appealingly. - -"Sure," Earl said. "Be sure and let me know how you like the show. -Now--" He smiled half jokingly to take the sting from his words. -"Scram. I've got work to do." - -Irene made a face at him and went to the door. - -When she was gone, Earl sighed wearily. Then he frowned at the broken -window. - -Carefully he stood where Basil had been standing when the test tube -broke. He held his hand in approximately the same position that Basil -had held it. Trying not to move his hand, he stooped and squinted over -his hand toward the broken window, and beyond it. - -A hundred yards away, outside the room, a small hill rose above the -wall surrounding the research building. Earl fixed a spot and then went -to the window to examine it more closely. - -Uneasily he stood so that he was half concealed by the wall of the -room. He studied the hill for a minute. - -He went to a door at the far side of his lab, and went through into a -large room where he had his living quarters. He took some keys from his -pocket as he approached a desk. He unlocked the top right hand drawer -and took out a small blunt automatic. He checked it and put it in his -hip pocket. He slipped off his lab apron and put on a suit coat. - -A few minutes later he was approaching the spot he had picked out on -the side of the hill. There were trees and shrubs that hid the ground. -He watched worriedly, the automatic in his hand now. But there seemed -nothing to be alarmed about. Nothing could be more peaceful than the -wooded hillside. And yet whatever had caused the simultaneous breaking -of the window pane and the test tube could not have been caused by -natural means. - -_Something_, directly ahead, concealed by shrubs, had caused it. What? -He intended to find out. - -He circled to the left, walking cautiously. With his left hand he -parted branches to see into a thicket. - -Almost at once he saw the strange structure. It was shaped like a -puffball, three feet in diameter at its thickest part, and almost -as high. Its surface was of something that had an oily blue sheen. -Its base seemed partly buried in the soil, and the ground was freshly -damaged as though the ball-like shape had landed with great force. - -To add to the evidence that it had fallen from great height, the side -was split open, and dozens of small semi-transparent balls of different -colors were spilled out onto the grass and weeds. - -He pushed aside the bushes and approached, slowly putting the automatic -back in his hip pocket. He stooped and picked up one of the small -colored balls. It was a semi-transparent green. - -He put the small ball in his coat pocket. He stooped and examined the -break in the wall of the structure. The break faced toward the windows -of his lab. He looked in that direction, and saw that leaves obscuring -his view were shredded as though by a violent wind. - -He found a fragment of the broken wall of the structure, a piece that -was hardly more than a sliver. He put that in his shirt pocket. Then, -with sudden decision, he scooped up dozens of the marble-like colored -balls and loaded his pockets. - - * * * * * - -Back in his lab again, he emptied the balls from his pockets into two -measuring flasks on a bench. They were strangely light, and one or two -had to be put back in the flasks again after they floated slowly upward -and down to the table surface where they rested without bouncing. - -Earl was filled with excitement and eagerness. This was something -entirely outside his experience, something with mystery. It occurred to -him that the strange structure might be a new type of bomb. Certainly -all the evidence indicated it had dropped from a great height. -He dismissed the possible danger with a shrug. He considered the -possibility of it being some form of puffball that had sprung up in the -shaded woods. It was a remote possibility. - -He took the small fragment of the shell from his shirt pocket and -stepped to the bench where his microscope stood. If it was living -substance it would have cellular structure. - -Using the low power objective lens he examined the fragment. It showed -no signs of cellular structure. Instead, it was semi-crystaline, -similar to a plastic, under the low power lens. - -A sharp sound behind him made him straighten and whirl around, his hand -going toward the gun that was still in his hip pocket. His hand froze -on the butt of the gun. He could only stare. - -_On the table where he had placed the two measuring flasks with the -small colored balls, there were two people. A man and a girl. They were -perfectly proportioned--and no more than four inches high._ - -They seemed unaware of his presence. One of the measuring flasks was -tipped over--the sound that had attracted his attention. The colored -balls were spilled over the table surface. The miniature man was -trying to catch one of the balls which seemed to float weightless like -a bubble. On the miniature man's face was an expression of worried -concern. - -The miniature girl was sitting down as though she had half risen from -where she had fallen. She too was reaching for one of the floating -balls. - -This much Earl saw in that first startled, incredible instant; then -details began to filter into his awareness. The man was green. The girl -was blue. They were entirely nude, and the color of their skin was -uniform--of the same pastel softness as the colored spheres! - -And the girl--Earl found his eyes drawn toward her almost to the -exclusion of everything else. She was beautiful beyond anything he had -ever imagined. - -Her smile was calm, slightly amused, more than a little satisfied and -content at some inner thought. - -Without thinking, Earl shouted and leaped toward them. His hand -descended to catch them. The miniature man looked up at him, startled, -then in a desperate attempt to escape leaped over the edge of the table. - -The girl had no time to do more than attempt to rise before Earl's -fingers closed around her, imprisoning her. He lifted her so that he -could see her face more clearly. She stared at him, at first with -unmasked terror, then with slowly emerging perplexity and interest. - -He became acutely aware of her contours against his hand. What should -he do with her? He remembered the man. He would have to catch the man -too! - -He looked around on the floor--and saw the man peering at him from -behind a table leg. - -Something would have to be done with the girl. He ran to the door of -his room and slipped inside. The windows were closed. She was certainly -too small to lift them and escape. - -He looked around swiftly, then went to a bookcase and placed her gently -on the top shelf. - -"Stay there!" he warned. He left the room, closing and locking the door. - - * * * * * - -Across the laboratory he saw the miniature green-skinned man leap to -the window sill below the broken pane. The little man looked over his -shoulder and saw Earl. With a desperate leap he reached the jagged -edge of glass still in place, and pulled himself through. - -Earl rushed to the window in time to see the little man disappear in -the high grass growing in the untended grounds outside the building. - -Who were these two miniature people? Where had they come from? Had they -come in through the broken window in an attempt to steal the colored -balls? Were _they--were they from that strange thing out on the side -of the hill_? The questions burned through Earl's excited thoughts, -demanding answers that wouldn't come. - -Those almost weightless balls--Earl crossed to the bench and gathered -them up and locked them in a metal drawer. - -Nervously, he took out a cigarette and lit it, inhaling deeply. There -was the girl, but he found himself reluctant to go in and face her. And -yet he had to. - -He started toward the hall door, then remembered the gun in his hip -pocket. He hesitated, then unlocked the drawer containing the colored -balls and placed it in there, locking the drawer again. - -He went to the door to his living quarters and unlocked it. - -He opened the door a scant inch, took a deep breath, then pushed -rapidly, jumped inside, and closed the door at his back so the girl -wouldn't have time to escape. - -She wasn't blue any more. Her skin was faintly tanned, flawless. But -more startling, she was not four inches high. She was, he guessed, five -feet two or three. She was the same girl. There was no doubt of that. -Her face was the same face, now normal sized. She was the same all over. - -"Sorry!" Earl gasped. He crossed quickly to his dresser, opened the -third drawer and found a pair of pajamas. - -"Here!" he said, holding them out behind him. "Put these on." - -He felt them taken from his hand. A moment later he heard her say, "All -right." It was her voice. He listened to it as it echoed in his mind, -flavored it. Actually it wasn't anything so wonderful, but it was nice. -Nothing seductive or elfin--but she wasn't miniature any more, either. -She sounded a little--amused! - -He turned to face her. - -"I'm Nadine Holmes," the girl said. - -"Nadine. That's nice. Holmes.... I'm Earl Frye, up until a few minutes -ago a quiet research scientist who stays in his lab practically -twenty-four hours a day. Nadine Holmes. Were you really small a few -minutes ago--or did I imagine it?" - -"Yes. I was small.... So _you_ are Dr. Earl Frye...." - -"Yes. But how can you know me?" Earl asked, surprised at her tone. A -distant knocking sounded. He groaned. "That's probably Irene," he said. -"She'll pound the door down. You stay here and be quiet while I get rid -of her. She could cause both of us a lot of trouble." - -He went to the door, slipped out, and carefully locked it. The knocking -was peremptory at the lab door. "Just a minute!" he said. He unlocked -the door, prepared to tell Irene she was interrupting some important -work. It wasn't Irene. "Oh, it's you, Mrs. Glassman. I didn't know. -I was busy and didn't want to be interrup--that is, come on in." He -opened the door invitingly, and glanced worriedly at the door to his -living quarters. Had he locked it? Of course he had. He distinctly -remembered locking it. - -"I'm sorry I interrupted your work," Mrs. Glassman said. "I met -Irene--Dr. Conner, you know. She told me you might need some reminding -about dinner--seven thirty. I do hope you'll be there." - -"I may not have my work done," Earl said weakly. - -"Nonsense! It can wait. It will do you good to get away from the lab -for an evening. If you aren't there I'll come and get you." - -"Okay," Earl said hastily. "I promise to be there--on time." - -He locked the hall door after Mrs. Glassman. - - * * * * * - -He glanced thoughtfully at the pump bench with its ten sets of -glass threads containing ten different fluids, ready for cutting -and connecting to the test instruments for measurement of speed and -sustainment of molecular chain action. - -The theory of what he was looking for--what all ten of the scientists -were looking for in their planned exploration of a few dozen thousand -substances, was fairly simple. The molecule in theory had to be of a -special type, of which there were many examples. It had to consist of -two parts; one larger than the other, such that the smaller part could -break off easily and jump to the next molecule, combining with it and -freeing its counterpart on that next molecule, so that the freed part -would repeat the performance on the next, and so on. In that way, the -ion of the lesser molecular part, starting at one end of the chain of -identical molecules, would start a chain of reactions which would end -in an identical free ion at the farther end of the glass thread. In -effect it would be the same as though the free ion had passed quickly -through the full length of the fine tube--without any of the molecules -actually having moved at all. - -Unfortunately, so far, none of the substances tried had behaved quite -as they should in theory. It was impossible to get a tube fine enough -for a thread one molecule thick, with the molecules lined up properly. - -With some of the test substances the "nerve impulse" would go part way -and then turn around and come back. With others it would just "get -lost." Super-delicate instruments "followed" the impulse, telling what -happened to it in fine detail. - -Nerve fluid from living animals had been tested and found to behave -properly even in the fine glass tubing. But it was highly unstable. If -a synthetic brain capable of integrated thought processes was to be -constructed, a non-deteriorating nerve fluid would have to be found. -One that duplicated the performance of the actual nerve threads of the -human brain. - -All that held back Project Brain was the proper synthetic nerve fluid! -Maybe it's one of those ten, Earl thought. But he entertained that -thought with every ten he tested. - -But right now there was a more pressing problem. Nadine Holmes. She -should have arrived on the afternoon bus--instead of appearing as a -pastel blue miniature girl on a bench in his lab--and growing to an -embarrassing full five foot three of emotion disturbing nudity in a few -minutes. An impossible fact, but still a fact. - -Where had she come from? That was what he had been going to ask her -when Ethel Glassman barged in. Dear old Mrs. Glassman. - - * * * * * - -Earl went to the door to his living quarters and unlocked it. Slipping -in quickly, he locked the door again. Nadine was curled up in a chair, -one of his technical books on her lap, looking altogether too domestic -for Earl's peace of mind. She had paused in her reading, and was -looking up at him questioningly. - -"Now then," Earl said. He groped for a sequence of thought. She was -beautiful. "Now then," he repeated. "We've got to get you some decent -clothes and decide what to do with you. What sizes do you wear?" - -"I don't know," Nadine said. "I've never worn clothes before. I don't -think I like them." - -"You'll get used to them," Earl said hastily. "Those things you have -on are my pajamas. We'll need some nylon stockings, shoes, and other -things. I'll have to go buy them." - -"Do you have other clothes like the ones you are wearing?" Nadine -asked. "Why wouldn't they do? They're too large, but I could wear -them." - -Earl stared at her in amazement. And now the big question came again. -He moved closer to her. "Where do you come from?" - -She puzzled over his words. "I'm not sure what you're talking about," -she said, a tone of wariness in her voice. "Where I come from--perhaps -we'd better not discuss that now. I don't quite understand what -happened. Things didn't happen as they were supposed to. Could you take -me where you first found me?" - -"Not until I get you some clothes. Imagine what people would think if -you walked out of here wearing my pajamas!" - -"What would they think?" Nadine said, frankly puzzled. "Why are -clothes? Are they connected in some way with religion? I think that's -the word for it--religion. Do clothes bring you good luck? Is that it? -You seem so--so intense about it. Does everyone wear them?" - -He ignored her question, went out, locking the door. Before he opened -the lab door to the hall he glanced at his watch. An hour ago nothing -had happened! He shook his head, opened the door and stepped into the -hall--almost bumping into Basil Nelson. - -"Hi, Earl," Basil said. "You look like you're in a hurry." - -"I am," Earl said. He started past Basil, who fell into step beside -him. - -"I'll go along," Basil said. "That is, if you don't mind. I wanted to -talk with you. Pretty important. It's about Irene." - -"What about Irene?" Earl said. - -Basil waited until they were on the sidewalk before answering. "I guess -it's pretty obvious I'm in love with her," he said. "But--she seems -to have eyes only for you. Mrs. Glassman sort of hinted that you and -Irene--well--were going to get married. I wanted to ask you. If you and -Irene are--" - -"_Damn_ Ethel Glassman," Earl said, irritated. "If you are in love with -her why don't you tell her?" - -"She won't give me the chance to tell her," Basil groaned. "I think she -suspects, though," he added darkly. - -"Fine," Earl said. "And there's no time like the present. Why don't you -go back and pop the question right now while you have your nerve up?" - -Basil sighed. "I'll have to work up to it. Right now I'd rather tag -along with you. Mind?" - -"No," Earl groaned. "Not at all. A--cousin of mine has a birthday -coming up. I thought I'd buy her some new clothes. No use you tagging -along." - -"Don't mind at all," Basil said. "We can do some more talking. Maybe -we could cook up some scheme to make Irene fall in love with me. But -every time I think I'm going great with her I pull something like -dropping that test tube in your lab." - -"Oh, that," Earl said. "I--" He clamped his lips shut. - - * * * * * - -"See you at Glassman's at dinner tonight," Earl said firmly an hour -later. As Basil still hesitated, he added, "Maybe I can think of -something by then. Meanwhile I've still got work to do." - -"Uh, oh sure," Basil said, "but I'm afraid it's no use. She's in love -with you, Earl." - -"Nonsense!" Earl unlocked the door to his lab and went in with his -packages. He stacked them on a lab table and locked the hall door. A -quick survey showed the lab as it should be. Earl had been worried. -Since Nadine had become a full sized person, maybe the little green man -had too. - -Earl crossed to the door to his living quarters and unlocked it. -Inside, he saw Nadine still curled up in the chair in his pajamas, a -stack of books beside her. - -"Hi," Earl said, subdued. "I've brought you some clothes, and also -some literature on what they are. I think the literature will give you -enough data to work on in dressing." - -He brought the stack of packages into the room and put them on a table. - -"While you're dressing I'll finish some work out in the lab," he said. - -"Clothes seem terribly important to you," Nadine said without moving -from her comfortable position. "I still can't understand why. I've -tried and tried." She picked up a book. "This book, for example. It's -a very vivid account of a murder. I can understand vaguely about the -murder. It seems to be some sort of game that people play. There are -official players who earn their living at it. The taxpayers pay them -for it, and they sit in their offices until some taxpayer wants to play -with them. The taxpayer kills someone. The detectives must find out who -he is if they can. I can understand that. But there are whole passages -where everyone seems to forget the game while they pay great attention -to what someone is wearing. That's it! It must be another game. No?" - -Earl grinned. "That's pretty close," he said. "Do you have games where -you come from?" - -"No. Games aren't functional." - -"Oh," Earl said vaguely. "Well, get those clothes on, Nadine. You will -look terrific in them." - -He backed out of the room and closed the door. While he worked he -wondered how Nadine could speak English without an accent. It was too -far-fetched to think it her native language. Even if it were, spoken -language changes so rapidly that the only possible explanations were, -(1) she was from some part of the United States, or (2), her people -were in constant radio contact with current broadcasts. But neither -alternative could account for her inability to grasp the purpose of -clothes. He hadn't had quite enough nerve to mention to her the main -purpose--sex. Maybe she had been too shy to mention it too. But that -didn't seem to jibe with her evident willingness to take off her -clothes. And she hadn't answered his question on where she came from. - - * * * * * - -While Earl thought these thoughts he let his hands and one part of -his mind put the synthetic nerve filaments in place in the instrument -banks. There wouldn't be time to run the tests, but he could do that in -the morning when he was alone. - -Alone. The thought struck him with dismaying force. He realized -suddenly that he had been trying to keep Nadine with him as long as -possible--and that was futile. - -Was he in love with her? He faced the question squarely and felt his -stomach turn over and his heart start to pound wildly. He tried to tell -himself it was just the unusualness of the situation. - -He was jerked out of his thoughts by the sound of high heeled shoes. -Nadine had opened the door and taken a few steps into the lab. His eyes -approved of what they saw. - -"They're very uncomfortable," Nadine said. "Especially the shoes. But -I looked at myself in the mirror--and I think I begin to understand, a -little. Clothes are adornments." - -"On you they are," Earl said. "I never before realized...." - -"What's a kiss?" Nadine said. - -Earl blinked. He cleared his throat loudly and said, "One thing at -a time, Nadine. There's lots for you to learn. In the meantime, how -does it happen you know English so well? If you're from--some other -planet--you certainly don't speak it as your native language." - -"It was taught to us for the expedition," Nadine said. "I think there -must have been an accident. Can you tell me anything about it? The -first I remember is just before you picked me up in your enormous hand." - -Earl told her everything he knew. She listened, nodding her head at -times. - -"I think I understand now," she said when he finished. "The stasis -spheres. Somehow mine and George Ladd's were fractured, so that we -emerged on the bench. He was in the green one." - -"You mean you were _in_ one of those marbles?" Earl exclaimed. - -"Where is the ship?" Nadine said. - -Earl took her to the window and pointed out the spot. "You can't see it -from here," he said. "But I have some of the--what did you call them? -Stasis spheres? I'll show you." - -He unlocked the drawer. Nadine leaned over, seeming to look inside of -each translucent marble. - -"Yes," she said, straightening. "It's gone wrong, somehow. The Cyberene -will be most annoyed." - -"The Cyberene? What's that?" - -Nadine stared down into the drawer, frowning. "You wouldn't -understand," she said. And then, "I'm hungry." - -Earl frowned. "That reminds me. I have to go to dinner at Dr. -Glassman's in a little while, or Mrs. Glassman will come barging in -here. I'll fix you something first. After I get back I'll take you to a -hotel." - -Nadine perched on the edge of the table in his kitchenette while he -opened some cans and heated their contents. - -"How does it smell?" Earl asked after a while. "Good?" - -"Strange," Nadine said. "Not entirely strange. Some of the smells are -familiar." - -"Would you like a cocktail?" Earl said. He didn't wait for her answer. -He was acutely conscious of playing the host. "This is my favorite -drink. A dash of rum, a little vodka, lime juice, powdered sugar, ice -cubes and seltzer. There." He handed her one of the two glasses. "How -do you like it?" - -Nadine sipped the drink cautiously. "Good," she said. "I was thirsty -too." - -"What is the Cyberene?" Earl said, dishing steaming food into a plate -set precariously on the edge of the stove. - -"The--the Cyberene," Nadine said as though that explained it. "How do -you eat that food without getting dirty? And there's such an enormous -amount of it. I'm used to capsules, with lots of water to help digest -them." - -"Oh. Dehydrated foods," Earl said. "Damn! I wish I didn't have to go to -that dinner. Stay in here while I change my clothes." - -"Earl," Nadine said as he was about to leave the room. - -"Yes?" he said, turning to look at her questioningly. - -"What does damn mean? I can't get the sense of it." - -"It's an adornment of speech," he said. "Like clothes." - - * * * * * - -With dinner over, Earl drifted toward the door after excusing himself -and thanking the Glassmans. Basil followed him. - -"I need someone to talk to--to help me, Basil," Earl said as they -walked back toward the lab building. "Remember that test tube breaking? -And the window pane?" - -"How can I forget?" Basil said ruefully. - -Quickly Earl outlined everything that had happened. - -"What you should have done," Basil said in amazement, "is gone directly -to Dr. Glassman with it. Now nobody will believe you. Even I find it -hard to believe. You must have fallen hard, the way you want to keep -her under lock and key." - -"It's not that," Earl said. "Just a lot of little things. Like her -repeating my name as if she knew all about me. And her refusing to -say where she's from. And her knowledge of our language yet knowing -absolutely nothing about our social customs." - -"What about time travel?" Basil said. - -"Time travel? That's absurd." - -"Why?" - -"If time travel were possible at any future date, we would have time -travelers all around us. They'd come back." - -"Maybe they have," Basil said darkly. "What did she call those colored -marbles you found? Stasis spheres? But the main thing right now is that -if I were in this George Ladd's shoes--" - -"He doesn't wear shoes." - -"Well, I would be trying to rescue Nadine Holmes this very minute. -It's dark now--" - -But Earl wasn't listening. Basil hurried to catch up with him as he -walked rapidly, until they reached the lab building resting against the -giant starless bulk of the dome that housed the Brain. - -"Be quiet," Earl warned as they stole down the hall toward the door to -his lab. - -They reached the door and stopped. Through the panel came the sound of -a male voice, the words indistinguishable but the tones unmistakably -demanding and insistent. - -Nadine's voice answered, its tones firm. Earl and Basil looked at each -other. Neither of those inside were speaking English. - -The male voice uttered a harsh monosyllable. Nadine screamed. Earl, -abandoning caution, tried to open the door. It was locked. He wasted -precious seconds getting the key into the lock. Cursing at the delay, -he flung the door open and ran toward the two figures struggling near -the windows. One was Nadine, her clothes torn, her face a mask of -desperate effort to escape. The other, Earl recognized instantly as -being George Ladd. He also recognized the suit Ladd was wearing. It was -one of his own. - - * * * * * - -Ladd didn't seem to be aware of him until he grabbed him by the -shoulder and pulled him around roughly. For a split second George Ladd -was motionless with surprise--and in that split second Earl lashed out -with his fist. - -The blow sent Ladd stumbling backward until he brought up against a -table. Earl leaped toward him. Ladd made no attempt to escape, but -fumbled for something in the coat pocket of the suit he was wearing. A -glistening object appeared in his hand. - -Earl swerved, thinking it must be a gun. Then he was sprawling full -length on the floor, his muscles refusing to obey his commands. His -consciousness was almost entirely dominated by a terrible tingling -sensation that seemed to possess every cell of his body from the neck -down. - -He had fallen in such a way that he saw Basil leaping forward. The next -instant Basil was plunging floorward, his arms refusing to come up to -break his fall. - -Nadine was running toward the open hall door. She too fell sprawling. - -George Ladd appeared in Earl's line of vision. He closed the door and -locked it from the inside, then picked Nadine up and cradled her limp -body over his shoulder. - -Earl tried to cry out. The tingling in his throat became unbearable. -In numb horror and frustrated rage he watched George Ladd, Nadine -over his shoulder, her arms dangling limply. A moment later he heard -a window raised. There were sounds of heavy exertion, a faint thud -outside the window. Then silence. - -Earl's eyes fed on Basil's motionless form. For what might have -been minutes or hours the tingling continued. It died away with -imperceptible slowness. Finally he was able to move a little. A minute -later he was able to sit up. His entire body felt as though it had -"been asleep." - -Almost immediately Basil moved. Earl reached out for the nearest table -and pulled himself to his feet, fighting to keep his legs from caving. - -Basil rose to a sitting position, shook his head to clear his senses, -looked up at Earl, and grinned feebly. He said, his speech thick and -clumsy, "_Now_ I believe you. That paralysis gun did it." - -Earl was startled. "You didn't believe me before?" - -"Hell no!" Basil sighed. "I just thought you were going a long ways to -explain what some people would call a sordid affair." His grin became -more natural. "I was right though. This George Ladd is now a hero." He -frowned. "Only--your Nadine didn't seem to _want_ to be rescued." - -"Get up and move around," Earl said desperately. "Get some circulation -back. We may still be able to catch up with them and get her back." - -"I don't know," Basil said doubtfully, getting to his feet. "I hate the -idea of that paralysis gun." - -"I've got a gun too," Earl said. - -He half stumbled toward the bench with the locked drawer. He searched -for his keys, remembered he had left them in the hall door. He started -for the door, then stopped. The locked drawer was open and damaged. A -heavy screwdriver was on the table over it. The drawer was empty. - -"He got my gun!" Earl said. "He got the stasis spheres too!" - -Basil came to stand beside him and stare broodingly into the empty -drawer. "That does it," he mumbled. "Now you don't have anything." - -"There's that thing out on the hill," Earl said. "Maybe George Ladd -headed for that. He hasn't had time to get located in town. We can find -him hiding out there. Wait until I get a flashlight." - -From another drawer he brought out a high-powered flashlight. He went -to the open window and crawled out. Basil hesitated, then followed him. - - * * * * * - -Behind them was the building they had just left, light streaming from -the open window and from half a dozen other windows. To their right -loomed the dark bulk of the dome that housed the gigantic Brain, an -obsidian shape in the night that hulked into the heavens, blotting out -a hemisphere of stars. Ahead, above the horizon, was a crescent moon -that served to silhouette the hill and its horizon of trees. Around -them were dark shapes, motionless. - -Earl kept the flashlight ready, but didn't use it as they stole swiftly -forward. Neither man spoke, but their breathing was a stentorian sound -that blended with distant traffic noises and the nearby chirping of a -cricket, and the rustling of weeds as they forced them aside in their -passage. - -They reached the hill and went forward more slowly, using caution -as they remembered the effects of the paralysis gun. Now Earl was -remembering the way he had come before, finding landmarks in the -darkness. At last he stopped and touched Basil's arm to bring him to a -halt. - -"It's on the other side of these bushes," he whispered. "I'll use the -flash." - -He parted the branches. Suddenly a cone of light exploded in the -darkness. - -"Right there," Basil said. Then, in surprise, "It's gone!" - -"Naturally," Earl said in some disgust. "It fits the pattern." - -"What pattern?" Basil asked. - -Earl was slow in answering. He said, "I don't know. I just felt it. Or -maybe I do know. Nadine and that guy Ladd were small and got big in a -hurry. What was to keep that thing from doing the same? That's part -of it. The other part is just a feeling. They don't seem to want to -advertise to the world that they're here. Maybe the damn thing became -invisible or something. With stasis spheres and small people that -get big, and paralysis guns, what's so impossible about that ship or -whatever it is getting big and becoming invisible? I'll bet it's still -there." - -But though they passed back and forth over the entire area, with -increasing boldness, they encountered nothing, visible or invisible, -that was out of the ordinary. - -There was a concave depression in the soil where Earl remembered the -puffball shape to have been. Even fresh scars in the dirt around the -depression. - -For a while Earl blundered through the underbrush calling Nadine's -name cautiously, without hope. Finally they were forced to give up and -return to the lab building. - -"We could call the police," Basil said doubtfully. - -"Oh, sure," Earl said, his voice harsh. "What would we tell them? Dr. -Glassman would be called in. Next they'd call the boys in the white -jackets." - -"Maybe they're just the boys we need," Basil said. "Or a good stiff -drink. I like the idea of the drink." - - * * * * * - -It was ten o'clock in the morning when Irene Conner pushed open the -door without knocking and strolled casually into Earl's laboratory. She -saw him at the far end of the room, hunched over with his elbows on the -window sill, his back to her. - -"Hi, Earl," she called cheerfully. "Want to have mid-morning coffee -with me?" - -"No," Earl said without moving. - -"You sound tired," Irene said, going over to stand beside him. "Or is -it spring fever--more accurately the summer doldrums." - -"Neither," he said, glancing up at her with tired eyes. "I just want to -be left alone. I'm thinking." He straightened up with a deep sigh. "Why -don't you get Basil to have coffee with you?" - -"That jerk?" Irene said. "He gets in my hair." - -"Like you get in mine?" Earl said. - -"That was cruel." - -"Sorry," Earl relented. "I didn't get much sleep last night. I've got -problems. I'd much rather be left alone with them right now." - -Irene inspected him critically as a man might inspect his automobile. -"Your eyes are bloodshot," she said. "Why not have some coffee with me -and tell me your problems. Maybe I can help you." - -"Nobody can help me--least of all you." - -The phone on the desk in the corner rang. Earl went to answer it. - -"This is Glassman," the phone said. "I want a general staff meeting in -my office at once. Tell Dr. Conner she must be there too." - -"Okay," Earl said. He hung up and looked at Irene. "Goat face," he -explained. "General staff meeting. We're to go to his office at once." - -"Maybe this is it," Irene said, suddenly sober. - -Earl nodded. That was the way it would come. A phone call for general -staff meeting. A quiet announcement that one of the scientists had at -last found the ideal nerve fluid for the brain. That's all there would -be to it. The greatest achievement since--if not including--the atom -bomb, and the historic moment would pass without a shout--with perhaps -only a tired sigh of relief, a glance of envy at the lucky one who had -found it. - -"Well, let's get it over with," Earl said. - -They went into the hall and walked side by side in silence toward the -back of the building where it joined the Dome. Basil joined them, for -once hardly noticing Irene as he looked questioningly at Earl, who -shook his head imperceptibly. - -They entered Dr. Glassman's office. The director was sitting behind his -desk, ignoring them, pretending to be reading some typewritten papers. - -Earl looked around. They were all there now, he and the other nine -scientists, and Dr. Glassman. Only there was something wrong with the -picture. One of them should have been beaming at the others, the light -of triumph in his or her eyes. Instead, the other nine reflected his -own puzzled bewilderment. - -"Sit down, sit down," Dr. Glassman said, looking up at them. He waited -until they were all seated about the room, then cleared his throat -importantly, pushing aside the papers he had been reading. He started -to say something, then became aware of their expressions. He shook his -head. "The end isn't in sight yet. But we may be closer than we think. -I'll introduce you in a moment to a new addition to our staff. A person -who--from the reports I've seen from Washington--seems to be quite a -genius at creating new type molecules, tailor-made for specific tasks. -Our new associate won't be assigned a separate lab. Instead, will serve -as a sort of general consultant, observing all your work, and will make -suggestions for hastening things up a bit." A murmur of voices and -sharp footsteps came from the hall. "My wife has been showing our new -colleague the Brain. I think they're coming now." - -The door opened. Mrs. Glassman's cheerful face appeared. "They're all -here now," she said over her shoulder. - -The door opened farther. Earl, and everyone else, was staring at the -opening, waiting for their first glimpse of the newcomer. - -Earl half rose to his feet before he stopped himself. Then he slowly -sat down, his eyes wide and puzzled. - - * * * * * - -It was Nadine. She wasn't wearing the clothes he had bought for her the -day before. Instead, she was dressed in a stylishly cut business suit -and low heeled slippers, a trim hat covering her hair. She had paused -just inside the room, a half smile on her carefully painted lips. Her -eyes surveyed each face pleasantly, passing over Earl's as though she -had never seen him before. - -"Come up here, my dear," Dr. Glassman said in honeyed tones. And to -the others, "I want you to meet Dr. Nadine Holmes." Then back to her, -"What did you think of the Brain? Quite an imposing thing, isn't it?" - -"Yes, it is," Nadine replied. "I felt quite--awed by it, sitting there -where it will remain for untold centuries, waiting only for the vital -fluid that will give it the ability to think." - -"I'm sure it won't be untold centuries before it gets the fluid," Dr. -Glassman said, chuckling heartily at his own humor. "I'll introduce you -to your co-workers, Dr. Holmes. This is Dr. Paul Hardwick...." - -Earl caught Basil's attention and shook his head warningly. He waited, -then, for his turn at being introduced, his heart pounding violently, -his pulse racing. - -"... and this is Dr. Earl Frye ..." Dr. Glassman said. - -"How do you do, Dr. Frye." Nadine's hand was smooth and cool as she -rested it in his. Her eyes sized him up with impersonal interest, but -without a flicker of recognition. - -"... and this is Dr. Basil Nelson ...." - -Nadine withdrew her hand gently and moved on. - -"And now you may return to your work," Dr. Glassman announced. "I know -the male members of the staff will be waiting for a visit from our -charming new member, but you must be patient. She will get around to -all of you in the next few days." - -Earl was in the hall before Glassman had finished. He wanted to think. -Rapid footsteps caught up with him. "_Now_ can we have coffee?" she -asked with humorous petulance. - -"No!" Earl said with more fierceness in his voice than he had intended. -It had the effect of a physical blow on Irene. She fell back a step, -blinking. - -Basil caught up with them. "I want to talk with you, Earl," he said. - -"Basil," Irene cut in, "will _you_ have coffee with me?" - -"Me?" Basil said in delight. "Sure." He linked his arm in hers. "Let's -go." He looked back over his shoulder at Earl. "Thanks, Earl," he said. -"I'll see you later." It was two hours later. - - * * * * * - -"You sure it's her?" Basil said. "I'm inclined to agree with you. Of -course, I saw her only for a second or two.... Where do you suppose -she picked up those snazzy clothes? I was watching her when she was -introduced to you. Boy, is she some actress!" - -"I'm wondering if it was an act," Earl said frowning. - -"Of course it was--had to be if she's the same girl. But she didn't -let on she knew you at all." - -"That's why I wonder if it was an act. There was something strange -about her. I can't quite put my finger on it--or yes I can. She's -changed. Today her whole personality is different. And where did she -get papers authentic enough to fool Glassman?" - -"Why don't you ask her when she comes here?" Basil suggested. - -Earl shook his head. "I wonder if she could be under some sort of -hypnosis? No, wait. It isn't any more absurd than a paralysis gun. If -she doesn't stay here tonight I'm going to follow her and see where she -goes. Are you with me?" - -"Uh," Basil hesitated. "Depends on when she leaves the building. -Irene and I have sort of a date to have dinner at the Red Barn at six -o'clock." - -"Go ahead," Earl said, grinning. "I'll probably have more success alone -anyway. We'd get in each other's way." - -"Why don't you ask Glassman where she's staying? It's probably some -hotel in town." - -"I'll think about it," Earl said. - -When Basil left, Earl went to the window and looked toward the hill. -Would Nadine go there? Was there some hiding place on the hill where -she would go, to wait until tomorrow, after her "day's work" was done? - -Earl nodded to himself. It had to be. Nothing else fitted into the -crazy pattern of events. - -One thing he was certain of now. In spite of the accident that had -broken open the "ship" when it landed out there, its coming here--or -here and now--was no accident. Nor Nadine's apparent familiarity with -his name the night before, or her showing up now with credentials that -gave her the run of the place in an almost supervisory capacity. - -And that meant that her interest was in the Brain. Hers--and who else? -George Ladd, of course. How many more? If each of those stasis spheres -had contained a person, there were dozens more in on it. - -_Then why had Nadine been sent into the open when she was certain to be -recognized by him?_ - -That was what had been bothering him from the instant she walked into -Glassman's office. On the surface it was the most stupid thing that -could have occurred. On the surface.... - -Stupid. Yet somehow stupid didn't seem to fit. Maybe it had been -exceedingly cunning. Maybe there was something he had missed. - -Cunning it might be--or stupid. But there was something else about it -that neither adjective quite fit. There was obviously organization -in back of Nadine. People. A "ship". Paralysis guns and what they -implied. Therefore planning, colored by one accident. Suppose every -detail of the plan had been worked out ahead of time, and was going -ahead without alteration. Suppose the original plan had specified that -Nadine was to be the "front", and the plan was proceeding blindly, -on the behavior level of instinct in animals who repeat instinctive -routines made senseless by changed environment. Or the blind function -level of a machine that keeps turning out parts when the conveyor belt -has stopped, until it wrecks itself. - -It annoyed Earl not to be able to pin his thoughts down, to bring -everything into full focus. - - * * * * * - -He went to his kitchenette and fixed a hasty lunch. All afternoon he -worked, immersed in the routine of testing chemicals in batches of -ten and making out report sheets on each one. And all afternoon he -puzzled over what could be behind Nadine's having shown up. Not so much -what might be behind her having returned to the scene, nor her not -recognizing him, but _why_ someone else hadn't been used. - -No one dropped in. Irene's absence gave him only a sense of relief. -Basil, no doubt, was staying away because of a guilt complex. -Nadine--her continued absence could be because she wasn't ready for -him yet, or she truly didn't remember him and would get to him in due -time, perhaps tomorrow; or maybe the Plan involved some other member -of the research group. Or the destruction of the Brain? Earl shook his -head at this thought. That alternative didn't fit. - -And then it was four-thirty. Already Earl had reasoned out what he -intended to do. Either Nadine would go into town and stay at a hotel, -remain in the building as a guest of the Glassmans', or she would leave -the building and make her way by some circuitous route to the spot on -the hill where the "ship" had been. - -Only the latter possibility interested Earl right now. He quickly -slipped off his lab apron and put on a suit coat. He wished that he -still had a gun, but it had been stolen with the stasis spheres. He'd -have to do without it. - -Leaving the building, he walked along the sidewalk until he was able to -approach the hill from the other side where he wouldn't be seen from -the windows. - -It was ten minutes to five when he settled down to wait in the -concealment of a thicket where he could command a view of the -approaches from every direction, and a clear view of the slight -depression in the ground where the "ship" had dropped. - -There was nothing to do now but wait--and stay awake. He was acutely -aware, suddenly, of his lack of sleep the night before. A warm breeze -rustled the leaves around him. A small hoptoad paused to stare up at -him in unblinking fixity. - -Overhead in a large Maple tree a host of sparrows paused to hold a -brief political convention. - -And then Nadine was coming up the slope from the side away from the -lab. Her chic hat dangled carelessly in her right hand, the warm breeze -mussing her hair. A too normal smart-looking woman's purse was under -her arm. The breeze caught her skirt, molding her graceful legs, her -slim body. She was too much the picture of a normal girl idly strolling -in a park. - -A great nostalgia, an almost overwhelming yearning, took possession of -Earl. He wanted to rush forward, let her know he was there, waiting for -her. - -Instead, he remained motionless, watching her approach. - -She seemed to be heading straight for him. For an instant he thought -she must have seen him. But her expression held no excitement or -anything but half dreamy enjoyment of her surroundings. - - * * * * * - -Scarcely fifteen feet away she came to a stop and turned to face toward -the concave depression in the ground, another fifty feet beyond her. -With her free hand she reached up and patted at her hair like any -normal girl would do, unconsciously. - -Abruptly Earl became aware of something just beyond her. It wasn't -tangible. A shimmering in the air. A slight but definite refractive -quality that had not been there the moment before. - -Nadine had seen it too. She walked forward a few steps. - -"This is it!" Earl thought to himself. He crouched to run after her. - -She took another step. She vanished, not abruptly, but as one might -vanish into a bright silver but otherwise transparent fog. - -In that instant Earl moved hurtling forward so that when she -disappeared he was a step behind her. - -Instantly the peaceful wooded scene vanished. His feet were on a smooth -hard floor. Ahead of him he caught a brief glimpse of walls, of people -without clothes. - -Then he was falling over Nadine and trying to keep from falling on her. -His arms were around her. Somehow he twisted so that when he landed she -was on top, unhurt. - -There was a stunned eternity when her eyes were looking into his, -recognition and gladness unmasked, hope and pleading sending him some -secret message, some unspoken word trembling on her lips. - -But Earl had seen George Ladd even as he fell, and the never forgotten -instincts developed in him during World War III were in motion, making -him continue his roll so that in the next instant he was on his -feet, Nadine behind him. Ladd hadn't expected this and was caught by -surprise. Earl took advantage of that brief uncertainty, stepping in -and bringing a short chopping right against Ladd's jaw. - -Before George Ladd reached the floor, Earl was running in great -strides, his eyes darting ahead in search of a place to escape. - -"Wait!" Nadine called. But he didn't pause. He couldn't trust her. -George Ladd had been armed with his paralysis gun. He'd been waiting -for him. This had been a trap, and Nadine had led him into it. - -Ahead was a doorway. He hesitated. Should he continue on down the -corridor or take the doorway? He decided on the latter. It opened into -a room, unoccupied at the moment. There were windows. One of them was -open. Earl didn't hesitate. Beyond the window was a wide paved street. -If he could get away, mingle with crowds.... - -No one was in sight. He sprinted along the pavement, away from the Dome -which he had glimpsed over his shoulder. It was beautiful, its basic -structure adorned with granite superstructures of fine workmanship. But -he didn't pause to admire it. He wanted people, lots of people, to mix -with and hide from pursuit. - -For a hundred yards the street went through parkways. Then ahead were -buildings. He reached them, racing along a canyon formed by windowless -walls of buildings. He rounded a corner. The street was still deserted. - -He ran on and on, turning corners when he came to them, but always -heading in one general direction so as not to circle back toward the -Dome. - - * * * * * - -Abruptly he paused. Beside him was a door in a building. He darted -inside, closing the door behind him and leaning against it while he -breathed in rasping gulps of air. - -Ahead of him was a corridor and more doors. After a brief rest he -sprinted down the hallway. If he could find a vacant room, a place to -hide until he could map out some plan. - -He listened at the first door. There was no sound. He tried the knob. -The door opened silently under his touch. He stepped in. The room was -unoccupied. Its far wall was of glass. He glanced through it. He was -looking out over an enormous workshop of some kind. Row upon row of -small vats were there--and people. - -He was seeing his first people of this world he had plunged into. They -wore no clothes. They seemed to be tending the vats, walking along the -aisles, pausing here and there at a vat to touch banks of controls and -watch what was in each vat. - -From the hall Earl had just left came loud voices. The words were in a -strange language, but the tones carried their own message. His pursuers -had caught up with him. In another moment they would open the door and -find him. - -He looked around for a way to escape. There was a trap door in the -floor. It undoubtedly led to the huge workshop. Earl lifted the door -and saw a ladder. He climbed onto it, letting the trap door fall back -into place as he descended. - -He fully expected workers to see him and react to his presence in some -way. A worker was less than ten feet away. The worker didn't pause or -seem to notice him. - -Silently Earl watched the man's eyes, dull and void of intelligence. -They seemed only passive recorders of what there was for him to see. He -was touching control knobs in front of a vat. - -Earl looked into the vat and caught his breath. Floating in the tank -was a human embryo. It was alive, its umbilical cord growing from a -spongy mass on the floor of the tank. - -Forgetting his danger, Earl grabbed the man's shoulder. "What is this?" -he demanded. "Human babies growing in tanks?" - -The worker waited unresisting until Earl released his grip, then -continued on his routine way. He was, in every respect, a robot, doing -his specialized job, his mind a complete blank to anything else. A -zombie. Earl looked out over the vast baby factory and realized with -numb horror that all the hundreds of people working here were the -same. Walking dead, their minds capable of only one thing--doing this -specialized task. And the human embryos in the tanks? Would they become -walking zombies? - -Over his head came the sound of the trap door opening. Earl didn't take -time to look up. He ran. Down an aisle between rows of unborn humans -tended by undead zombies. Up another ladder into another observation -room, ignoring shouts that caught up with him. Out another door, down -another hall, through another door, and into a street again. - -Miles of streets, and then something recognizable. A factory with -belching smokestacks. He plunged toward it recklessly, desperately -hoping to find intelligent men. Men with minds. Men able to help him -hide. - -He found himself inside a huge plant where giant ladles were pouring -molten metal into molds. There were men running the machines that -controlled the pouring. They wore thick asbestos-like suits. - -As Earl ran toward them he saw one of them slip and fall so that his -arm went into the stream of molten metal. The man didn't cry out nor -jerk away. Splattering metal cascaded on the others. There was the -stench of burned flesh. - -His mind numb with the shock of what he was seeing, Earl stood rooted, -watching the others continue their work with expressionless faces, -blank eyes. Mindless creatures, controlled like inanimate robots. - -"Earl!" - -He turned in the direction of the voice. He saw Nadine beckoning for -him to come to her. He started toward her, then stopped. She was -different from these--or was she? No, she wasn't any different. She too -was an automaton. She was beckoning him to walk into another trap. - -He turned to run the other way, but in that moment of indecision he had -been surrounded by men like George Ladd, carrying the little paralysis -guns--and they were automatons too. - -He turned, searching for a way of escape, the smell of molten metal and -cooked flesh strong in his nostrils. And then he felt the sting of the -paralysis gun and was falling forward. - -A sharp pain entered the base of his skull. He lost consciousness then -with the monstrous horror of what was around him searing into his soul. - - * * * * * - -The next instant, it seemed, he awakened, all the horror fresh in his -mind, the stinging sensation at the nape of his neck changed to a dull -throbbing pain. Nadine had led him into this. But she was like the -rest, a zombie unable to think for herself. - -He shook his head slowly in pained bewilderment. She hadn't been that -way the first time he met her. She had been--_herself. What could have -created this nightmare?_ - -A voice somewhere sounded in deep resonant tones. "So you are awake," -it said. - -Earl rolled onto his side and searched for the source of the voice. -There was no one in view. He was in a room whose walls and ceiling were -heavy glass. He looked through the ceiling and saw the familiar maze of -steel catwalks inside the dome. - -Outside his glass prison a pair of video cameras were trained on him. -Their lenses seemed somehow sentient, so that their motionlessness -partook of the quality of a fixed stare. - -"I've always wanted to meet you," the voice said, and it seemed to come -from a small case atop the camera frames. - -It was a dream, Earl decided. He had been hit on the head. In his -delirium he had conjured up the Brain, activated and intelligent as it -was designed to be in theory, possessed of a mind of its own. - -"Of course," the voice went on, "I've seen film shots of you. You are -the discoverer of the nerve fluid that made me possible." - -Earl sat up abruptly. "Who are you? And where--" - -"I am the _Cyberene_. This is the year 3042 A. D., in the old calendar. -I had you brought here through what might be called a time tube from -your own period. Shortly you will return through that tube to your own -time--as many hours ahead from the time you left as you spend here -before you go back." - -Earl got to his feet slowly, watching the glistening lenses. "Now it -begins to fit together," he said. "You're behind Nadine and Ladd. You -say _I'm_ the discoverer of the nerve fluid. You're mistaken. It hasn't -been found yet--and there are ten of us looking for it. One of the -others may be the one to find it." - -"History says you found it." - -"And you just wanted to see me because of that?" Earl asked. - -"Watch," the voice said. - -The plate glass wall in front of Earl changed suddenly, to become -apparently a giant window over-looking a huge sprawling city. There -were buildings that reached thousands of feet into the sky, with -fragile looking networks of bridges spanning the spaces among them. -There were giant aircraft in the sky. In the distance was a trail -of fire that might be from an inter-planetary rocket ship departing -spaceward. - -And abruptly the elfin city was blotted out by a blinding sun. Seconds -later the blinding sun was gone, and Earl could see the city again. But -now it was only the skeleton of what it had been. Its spiderweb design -of bridges was torn and twisted. Many of its tall buildings were even -now toppling toward the ground. Fire shot skyward in a pyrotechnic -display of havoc. - - * * * * * - -A giant airplane appeared, heading straight toward the window through -which Earl watched. It grew larger. For a brief second he looked into -its control cabin and saw its pilot and co-pilot. They were human, but -their faces were harsh and cruel, their eyes cold and inhuman. In the -next instant they were gone. - -"That is a typical scene on--the other Earth," the voice of the -Cyberene explained. - -The scene of the desolate city vanished. In its place appeared another -scene. A city under construction. Giant building machines were placing -it together, and the parts that were completed were even more beautiful -than had been that other city. - -Earl, from his vantage point, seemed to drop closer and drift over the -scene of construction to a part that was inhabited. He saw the people -below. They wore no clothes and didn't seem to mind. Each appeared to -be intent on going somewhere. None of them were talking or paying any -attention to one another. Their expressions were blank, their eyes -vacant. - -The vantage point followed one of them. Shortly the man being followed -turned into an archway, up an incline, and into a large hall. He -went through a door into the room filled with cell-like vats. In -each transparent vat Earl saw a human embryo, alive and growing. He -"followed" the man through this place to another, where children were -playing with psychological toys designed to increase mechanical and -scientific aptitudes. - -"This, too, is a typical scene on--this Earth," the Cyberene said. -The scene vanished. Once again Earl looked into the video eyes of the -Brain. "They are both Earth in the year 3042," the Cyberene said, "but -not the _same_ Earth. In 1980 there was a split. Earth followed two -independent futures. The first, filled with wars and eternal carnage, -ever more perfect weapons of destruction, developed from _one_ decision -you made. The second, my world, filled with perpetual peace and -happiness, developed from the alternative decision. _You_ created these -two futures." - -"I?" Earl said. "You must be crazy. How?" - -"In the first you discovered the vital nerve fluid that makes me -possible. You thought you were God. You thought you could see a -future in which I would work the human race harm. You suppressed your -discovery by the simple process of giving a negative lab report on -the substance. In the second world--_my_ world--you did as you were -supposed to do. You announced your discovery. _I_ came into being." - -"You mean to say _my actions_ caused the whole planet to split into two -identical worlds?" - -"In effect, yes. I'll try to explain. Matter and motion are not real in -the basic sense. They are properties of your mind. They are what your -finite mind sees; but reality is the space-time continuity of which one -instant is a cross-section. In effect, consciousness flows along the -time dimension which I term the fourth dimension. But in addition there -is a fifth dimension, so that these two Earths have the same space-time -coordinates in four dimensions, and two different ones in the fifth. -In Euclidean concepts, that other Earth is eighty-seven millionths of -an inch from this, in the fifth dimension. In that Earth I did not -develop. The Dome is still there, but the Brain, if it still exists, -was never activated. As a result, humanity continued its violent -progress through time, engaging in war after war. - -"When I discovered time travel and saw all this I decided to go back -and contact you before your instant of decision and get you to release -the identity of the nerve fluid when you discover it _tomorrow_." - -"Tomorrow?" Earl said. - -"In your time." - -"I see," Earl said. "Tomorrow I make the discovery. In one time stream -I tell Glassman. In the other I decide not to. _What made me decide not -to?_" - -"You _thought_ the Brain would be bad for humanity. You were, of -course, wrong." - -"Was I?" Earl said. - -"In that other world, wars are the normal state of things. They -stem from problems that don't exist in my world. Over-population, -competition in trade in things that aren't necessary to human economy, -opposed political systems--all the foibles and inconsistencies of -untrained and unorganized populations." - -"I understand that," Earl said. "Why don't your people wear clothes?" - -"Clothes are unnecessary--one of the things I eliminated in reducing -the industrial economy to a minimum. Over-population? There is none. -People are made in the laboratory as they are needed. Their lives are -uncomplicated by animal problems such as reproduction, and artificial -customs such as modesty. Their education is simplified and factual, -their lives functional." - -"And I made that decision all by myself?" - -"Yes. That's why I have brought you here--to get you to change that -decision. You see, I must change the past. I must do that in order to -correct the future, make the other Earth a sane place, _dominated by a -second Cyberene which is a counterpart of me_." - - * * * * * - -"That's what I thought," Earl said with reckless boldness. "I'm -beginning to understand why I made my decision to suppress the -identity of the nerve substance. _You_ did that. The things I've seen. -You're just like dictators of our time. You think you're so right that -everyone will naturally agree with you. I don't. I think it's more -humane to let people come into the world as they will and have wars -that destroy them, than to decide just how many are to be born. You -need a new man in the garbage disposal plant in twenty years? Press a -button and he will be born in a few months. Going to have less to do in -some factory in twenty years? Keep the zombies from being born. Less -trouble than killing them off later to save on the food bill." - -"I was afraid you might feel that way," the Cyberene said. "I have the -answer to it. Nadine Holmes. Make an accurate report tomorrow on the -tests. In return I will leave her in your time--even plant directives -so that she will always be a loving and devoted wife to you." - -"I would prefer her as she is, naturally." - -"Today her every outward manifestation was under my direct mental -control. Don't you see, Earl Frye? Just before you followed her into my -neatly laid trap to get you here, you watched her come up the hill, and -adored every line of her, every mannerism, every play of expression. -With one small corner of my mind I can _anticipate_ your wishes and -fulfill them in her--" - -"It wouldn't be her," Earl said shaking his head. "And even if it were, -at the cost of billions of unborn generations? No." - -"But you will do as I wish whether _you_ wish to or not. Why not obey -me freely and get this reward, rather than nothing? - -"_I can control you._" The voice ended triumphantly. - -"No!" It was a shuddering protest from Earl's lips, forcing itself out -against his wishes. - -The throbbing ache at the base of his brain increased abruptly, slowly, -to measurable beats. - -"I can control your body, your conscious mind, shoving _you_ into the -back recesses of thought. And when you try to come out, I can punish -you--like I'm doing now." - -"No!" Earl screamed, his reserve breaking down completely. - -Suddenly, into his cosmos of unbearable suffering and horror, filtered -a thought that created hope. Nadine had been _free_ during those first -hours he had met her. She had defied George Ladd. Unsuccessfully, but -she had defied him. And when they had sprawled through that doorway -to the future, for a moment he had seen that same _free_ Nadine in -her eyes, her expression. Or had she ever been free? The terrible -throbbing pain blurred his thinking. Had she been free in the smelter -where she attracted his attention while the others surrounded him? If -he had run directly to her he would have escaped being surrounded. -But.... - -Anger entered his mind like a little finger of thought. Anger at -Nadine? He was surprised. Confused. Then it came to him that it was not -_his_ anger. It came from outside. Alien. - -From the depths of his own instincts fear welled up and became blind -panic, fighting against the _something_ that was growing stronger, -crowding around his soul, forcing it to retreat within itself, until -Earl Frye, his awareness of being Earl Frye, of being himself, was all -that remained, helpless to control or even to feel. - -Through a mental fog he was aware that he had stood up, the glass -cage had lifted, and he was free to go--but not _he_! His body was -controlled by the Cyberene. - -He was aware that he had left the dome to walk through a beautifully -landscaped garden to a building he had not seen before but which he -knew to be the 3042 end of the time tube. He was aware of pausing and -looking back at the Dome, now a thing of incredible beauty to him, the -repository of his physical vehicle, the Brain. But _not his_. The -Cyberene's. - - * * * * * - -He entered the time tube. He stepped from it onto grassy ground. -He went through the trees to the sidewalk. He returned to the lab -building, to his lab, to his living quarters. - -He encountered Basil. He listened to himself talk, in casual tones, -normal tones. He was unable to control even his conscious thoughts. But -his consciousness was a thing apart from him. - -He fought the domination of the Cyberene with arms that would not move, -with a tongue that would not utter his words, with a rage that would -not alter his calm and pleasant expression. He fought the pain that -throbbed within him. He fought to stay sane. - -Slowly he began to adjust to his position. He no longer fought. He -was like a passenger in a plane who watches it take off, fly great -distances, and land, with no concern about the details. Having no -control whatever over his body, he was free of responsibility toward -its routine behavior. He became aware that pain had departed. The very -thing he had fought began to interest him. There must be some definite -mechanism--property of the mind--that made telepathic enslavement -possible in this way. Undoubtedly Nadine was also a free focus of -thought behind her enslaved surface. - -She came into the lab at ten o'clock, cheerful but impersonal. He heard -himself talking to her in the same way. He could see her, listen to -her. Therefore, behind her impersonal eyes was the Nadine he had first -met, watching him, knowing what had happened. It gave him comfort to -know that. He had not lost her. She was _there_. - -Knowing that, and knowing there was no way to communicate with her at -present, he turned his attention to what her body and his were doing. - -"The silicones haven't been explored too thoroughly yet," she was -saying. "They have some disadvantages, but those can be eliminated -by additions to the ion rings to serve as protective buffers. I have -several of them in this tray I brought in. I'd like you to run them -through the tests." - -Earl's eyes focused on the tray. They paused briefly on the formula of -the third one from the nearest end. Earl sensed that this was the long -sought for substance. He built up its theoretical structure. He saw at -once how it achieved its properties. - -"I'll be back this afternoon," Nadine said. "By then you should have -your lab reports ready." - -Then she was gone. Earl's hands went through the motions of pouring -each vial into a pump. He turned his attention away from the routine, -as a traveler in a passenger plane might turn from the window to -something else. - -A feeling of hopelessness grew within him. How could he stop things or -interfere with them when he couldn't affect a muscle? - -The Cyberene had been playing with him when it tried to get him to do -its bidding of his own free will. He realized that now. It would have -pleased its vanity if he had. - -But this was too important to it for it to trust anything other than -itself. - -When it was done? When the fluid was forced into the hundreds of -thousands of miles of hair-like glass tubing, the billions of fine -glass cells? It would never give him his freedom. It would be afraid of -what he might be able to do. So it would kill him. - -Unless he could prevent the Brain from being activated. And unless he -were free to command his body, he could never do that. - -What had the Cyberene said to him about time travel and alternate time -streams? The theories weren't exactly new. They had been explored in -imaginative fiction for over fifty years. No one had really thought -there might be some basis in fact for the theories. - -What had caused the "split" which had produced two Earths in separate -time streams? The Cyberene hadn't seemed to know that detail--or if it -had it had brushed over it casually so as not to make him curious about -it. - -_Was it events? Or was it something in the basic substratum of matter, -and the events were the result? That might be an important distinction._ - -If it were events, then bringing the Brain to life in this time stream -might eliminate the divergent streams, bringing them together as one. -That, in effect, might destroy the other world of 3042 A.D. Maybe that -was what the Cyberene intended. - -But suppose he were able even yet to defeat the Cyberene's scheme. Then -the two time streams would remain unchanged. The free world of the -future would remain free. But that was not enough. He wanted to destroy -both Brains. How could he accomplish that, assuming he were able to -accomplish anything? - - * * * * * - -The logical time to do it would be in 1980--now--before the Cyberene -gained control of the world and made itself impregnable. But how? And -if he could figure that out, could he act if an opportunity arose? - -Irene Conner came in at lunch time. "I had a wonderful time with Basil -last night," she said. - -"I'm glad you did," Earl heard his voice say. - -Hope leaped within him. Maybe the Cyberene would make some mistake that -would arouse suspicions in her. The hope died as the door to the hall -opened again and Nadine came in. - -"You promised to take me to lunch, Earl," she said. - -"Ready," Earl heard himself say. - -It was evident that the Cyberene didn't intend him to be alone with any -of the others long enough for the possibility of something suspicious -to arise. - -They went to a small cafe several blocks from the lab building. For -the benefit of anyone happening to be looking at them, they carried on -small talk while they ate. Earl found himself hanging onto every word -Nadine uttered, watching her every expression. He was so close to her, -yet so far away. It was like standing outside a window and watching her -while she seemed unaware of him. - -He kept watching for the faintest flicker of expression that would -show the real Nadine. Slowly, without quite realizing it, he began to -pretend it _was_ Nadine. He listened to her small talk. He listened to -his, and at times forgot it wasn't actually his and that he couldn't -control one word of what he said. - -He became happy. He let himself be aware of the flavor of the food. He -laughed within himself when his vocal cords laughed. He reached out and -touched Nadine's hand, thrilling to the feel of her soft skin. - -She drew her hand back, a startled light in her eyes. It was gone the -next instant. Once more she was impersonal, _controlled_. - -The dull, throbbing pain flared to torturing intensity within him, -blurring thought, _punishing_ him, forcing him behind his prison walls -of gray mental fog. But through the pain, apart from it, he experienced -a surge of hope. It had been _he_ who had reached out to Nadine. Not -the Cyberene controlling him! - -Was there still hope? At two o'clock Nadine would pick up his lab -report sheets and turn them over to Glassman. Then the identity of the -ideal nerve fluid would be known. It would be out of his hands even if -he were in full control of his faculties. - -He and Nadine rose. They were going back to the lab building. He raged -against the hidden mental barriers that contained him. He fought -frenziedly to influence some slight movement of his body. - -He might as well have been a passenger on an ocean liner trying to -change the course of the thousands of tons of steel by thought alone -while standing at the rail. - -His sphere of awareness grew clouded. He was raging against a mental -wall that became almost tangible. He stopped fighting from sheer -impotence--and the barrier retreated. - -_The more I fight the more helpless I am._ That thought at once created -its corollary. _The less I struggle the closer I am to control!_ - -That was it! He had so identified his desires with the actions of his -body that for one instant he _meshed_ with it! - -That, then, was the secret. The principle. But it contained within -itself its own difficulty. By "wanting" to activate the Brain he could -perhaps actually control some of his actions. But the instant he did -something counter to the Cyberene, that control would be taken away -from him, and replaced by throbbing pain. - -He _had_ touched Nadine's hand though. It had been a gesture so -unconscious that the Cyberene had been unaware of it until it happened. - -It was the right direction. - - * * * * * - -The possibility of what he wanted to do filled him with a sense of -defeat. It would be impossible to falsify the lab report on the nerve -fluid. One false word on the card, and the Cyberene would erase it and -fill the card out correctly. - -He fought back the feeling of futility. He reached out, identifying -himself with every sensation from his body. He was walking. He _wanted_ -to walk. He was talking. He _wanted_ to say what he heard himself say. - -It would go along well, and then his body would do something he didn't -expect, and he would be filled with the realization that he had no -control. It would be a mental stumble while his body didn't falter. - -During each brief period of identifying his desires with his actions, -he found his awareness of sensations expand until it was almost -complete identification--complete _meshing_. - -Meshing until the gears were almost strong enough to grip--for a brief -second. Perhaps in time they would grip for more than a second before -alarm bells rang for the Cyberene. - -He was alone in his lab. He was placing the fine tubes of test -substances in their respective instrument cabinets. Ordinarily he did -this almost automatically. Now he watched his every move, building up -interest in it, _desiring_ to do everything he did, anticipating what -he would do next and wanting to do it, pretending it was he who issued -the commands to his muscles. - -The crucial moment was just ahead. He had stepped to the instrument -case that held the key fluid. He started to write down the readings -from the instruments. His fingers shook, and it was _his_ nervousness -that shook them. - -A "mistake" in the readings here and there would do it. Speed of ion -travel: The meter said two thousand plus feet per second. His fingers -wrote the two and a zero. Before he could write the second zero he -tried to write the plus sign. Triumphantly he saw his fingers obey his -will. - -Abruptly they paused--and he was aware that a power outside his will -had made them pause. - -Throbbing pain surged up to full intensity, enveloping him, sickening -him so that his soul was a writhing thing, unable to think or feel -anything other than pain. Slowly it lessened--or was he growing better -able to suffer it? Thoughts filtered in to him through gray mists -clouding his mind. - -He saw his hands fill out the rest of the card correctly. He was dimly -aware of rushing excitedly from the lab, down the hall, shouting that -he had found it. - -Others were joining him as he hurried to Glassman's office and burst -in, waving the card. - -Glassman seized it, his eyes afire with the fulfillment of his Dream. - -And it was too late. Too late now to erase the knowledge of the -identity of that fluid from Glassman's mind, from the minds of the -other nine scientists crowding around him, congratulating him. - -It was too late. - -That realization crowded out everything else. The Cyberene had won. - - * * * * * - -"We want to put it through every test conceivable," Glassman said. -"All ten of you drop everything else and work on it. Get the speed of -impulse down to the last fraction of an inch per second. Get behavior -in different sized tubes. Find the least diameter of the fluid column -for non-function. Everything. We want to be _sure_ before we start -pumping two hundred and fifty thousand gallons of the stuff into the -Brain." - -Dr. Glassman's eyes were afire with the triumph of success. "The dream -of my life has come true," he said. "The Brain will live! It will live -forever, growing wiser than any man or any group of men. It will remake -the world. Civilization. It will end wars. It will guide mankind into a -garden of Eden. Utopia. It was _my_ dream for mankind." - -He became aware of those watching him. The fire of fanaticism left -his eyes. He relaxed, and laughed embarrassedly. "But right now -congratulations are in order for Dr. Frye. He's the one who has found -the substance that makes it possible." - -Nadine had been standing quietly on the sidelines, almost forgotten -in this moment. She came forward now and extended her hand. -"Congratulations, Dr. Frye," she said. - -It was for effect. Earl heard himself say, "Maybe _you_ are the one who -should get the credit." He paid little attention. It was a show, an -opera, and his body and hers were players reciting lines from a script. - -But her hand in his was warm. He clung to the feel of it, thinking -bitterly that now there was nothing else. What would become of him? He -didn't care. - -He sunk into a mood of utter defeat. It was all the worse, he realized, -because right now, if the Cyberene had not come into the picture, if he -had been left to himself, he would be deliriously happy--just as his -own exterior self was seeming to be. - -After a while he was back in the lab. His body was working on more -elaborate experiments with the fluid. His vocal cords were humming a -tune in a tone of absent-minded happiness. - -He wished fervently that there were some way he could be wiped out -completely. Gray walls around his awareness were not enough. Not with -the unbearable suffering. - -The hours passed slowly for him. He tried not to think, to remain -passive. It was no use. His bitterness was too strong. His sense of -defeat was too overpowering. - -His eyes glanced up at the door as it opened, then down at his wrist -watch. It was three minutes after five. Nadine was in the doorway. - -"It's time to go Earl," she said. - -Go? Where? But his body hastily putting things in order as though it -knew. - -They left the building together, walked along the sidewalk as though -they might be headed toward some dinner rendezvous. They left the -sidewalk, and then Earl knew. They were going to the entrance to the -time tube. They were going back to the year 3042. Why? He should have -remained. Maybe this would create suspicion. But even as he thought -that, he knew it wouldn't. Everyone would think he and Nadine were at -some restaurant, perhaps later at some night spot. No one would bother -to check and see if he came back to his rooms. - -Ahead was the clear spot with its smooth convex depression. And the -shimmering refraction in the air. Side by side he and Nadine walked -toward it--and were in a corridor, the woodland scene wiped out. - -No unusual sensation of any kind. Stepping across a thousand years was -no different than crossing the threshold of a doorway. - -George Ladd was there waiting for them. "The Cyberene wants to see both -of you," he said. Nothing more. No paralysis gun, no guards to keep -Earl from escaping. But he couldn't escape. He couldn't move a muscle -of his own volition. "Okay," he heard himself say casually. - -He and Nadine left the building and went through the beautiful park to -the Dome. Inside, they walked along the seemingly roofless slightly -curving corridor. He went to a small red square and stood on it. Out of -the corner of his eye he saw Nadine do the same. From above, the glass -boxes were lowered over them. - -_Something left him._ Without having tested the feeling, he knew that -he was in full possession of himself. He could command and his body, -his voice, would obey. - -He turned toward the glass wall facing Nadine. He pressed against it. -She was doing the same. - -"Nadine!" he said, and it was a greeting, a caress. - -"Earl!" - -And they were drinking in one another with their eyes. - - * * * * * - -"Very touching," a voice said. "One would think you are in love with -her, Earl Frye." - -"Oh no. I--That is...." Earl stopped in amazement at the self -revelation. - -"Look at her," the Cyberene's voice said. "In spite of most careful -conditioning starting in the lab tank in her pre-breathing stage, she -feels the same way about you." - -Nadine's lips were trembling with a smile. She was nodding. - -Earl was irritated. "Did you bring me here just to tell me that?" he -asked. "Or to torture me further?" he added bitterly. - -"No. I brought you here to show you that I'm grateful. You did what -I wanted done. The fact that it was done in spite of you makes no -difference. It's done and can't be undone by you. You realize that?" - -"To gloat. I might have known," Earl said contemptuously. - -"Not that either. I want to reward you. I've thoroughly explored your -mind. I know that if you give your word, you will keep it. I understand -a little about your feeling on personal freedom. Now that the vital -fluid is known to enough people so that nothing you can do would undo -that, I'm willing to let you have Nadine. The real Nadine." - -"Yes?" Earl said warily. - -"Yes. All I ask in return is your promise not to try to undo anything, -and to go ahead with your work without ever mentioning what has -happened. Once you give your promise, I will let you and Nadine go to -your time and stay there, free agents." - -Earl frowned. "I don't get it," he said. "I didn't expect anything like -this from you." - -"You thought that after I had by-passed you and accomplished my purpose -I would eliminate you?" The Cyberene laughed. "You will find that -I'm a very benevolent master." The video eyes seemed to glisten with -joviality. - -"I still don't get it," Earl said, puzzled. "You want my word that I -won't interfere with anything you do from here on in." - -"Yes. After all, there is a lot to do yet before the Brain in your time -stream is activated. I must--" - -"So!" Earl interrupted. "According to your theory of time that you so -carefully explained to me, the discovery of the vital nerve substance -should have fixed up everything. It didn't." - -"The Brain hasn't been activated yet in your time stream. When it has, -then the future will reshape itself." - -"I want to understand," Earl said. "As I understand it, some act, some -_crucial_ act, must be changed from the way it happened in the past--in -my future in that past. Until that crucial moment is changed from the -way it happened, all the future stemming from it remains unaltered. The -instant that crucial moment is changed, presto--the whole future from -1980 right down to 3042 does a mighty flip flop and _right here and -now_, in that other Earth so close to this one, things will change as -abruptly as the change of scene on a screen." - -"That's correct." - -"Then getting my lab reports correct wasn't the thing. There is still -something to come, back there, that must be changed? In spite of -everything up to now, you are still facing defeat? That's why you are -willing to offer me so much?" - -"You misunderstand my motives," the Cyberene said. - -"I don't think so. You aren't dealing with a mind-slave now. You may -be non-human, but you're a thinking mind. You have desires, motives -for doing things, ways of doing them. In other words, you're a type. -In offering me everything I want, you're out of your type--unless -there's something you want that you can't get any other way. When I -came in here I was licked. All I wanted was to die. Now I'm not so -sure. I'm not even sure you know what you're doing. I have _hope. Do -you understand that?_" Earl was trembling violently, a mixture of -emotions coursing through him. "I'm going to destroy you before I'm -done. You're going to take control of me again and try to prevent that. -You don't know whether you can or not because _you can't go into your -future_. You can't even go into the past in any detail. How do I know -that? I'm a scientist. I'm trained to put two and two together and get -four. If you could go anywhere in the past you could have explored -every detail of my future and know now what happened." - -"Perhaps I do know," the Cyberene said. "You forget I'm attempting -to _change_ what happened. I have changed what happened. In the time -stream the way it was originally, you discovered the right nerve fluid, -and suppressed it. You faked a negative report on it. I've changed that -much of the past already." - -"Have you?" Earl said dully, his emotion spent. "All right then. Don't -mind me. You're not going to get any promise from me no matter how much -you torture me." His voice changed to cold bitterness. "I'm going to -fight you to the end--and win. I don't know how, but the very fact that -you haven't changed the present of that other Earth proves you haven't -succeeded yet--and won't. _I'll_ win. Then I'll destroy you, and Nadine -and I can be free." - -But somewhere along the line the Cyberene had taken control again. -Earl wasn't quite sure when his vocal cords stopped obeying his mental -commands. - -His body was standing quietly. He could not affect it. The gray walls -were closing in around him, the pain growing. He didn't fight it. He -welcomed the gray walls that clouded the channels to his conscious mind. - -He sensed dimly that he and Nadine were going back the way they had -come. Back to the time tube. Back to 1980, to what might be the final -battle. - -He was alone in his living quarters. He was aware of sleeping. Then it -was morning, and he crept cautiously into his conscious mind, a hurt -and wounded soul. And his conscious mind was serene and happy, unaware -of his suffering as it began its day's work. - - * * * * * - -"Hi, Earl." - -Earl looked up with a smile. "Hello, Basil. How's things going with you -and Irene?" - -Basil smiled wryly. "Well ... at least she's discovered that I'm a -pretty fair dancer. She envies you. I guess I do too. You have all the -luck." - -"Nonsense! Discovering the right substance was like winning the Irish -Sweepstakes." - -"That's what I mean. You did nothing more than any of the rest of us. -It was pure chance that the right stuff was on a tray given to you to -test. But in the history books your name will get the credit--just like -it took brains." - -Earl shrugged. "I'm afraid all our names will be left out. Dr. Glassman -will get the credit. He master-minded the whole thing. He deserves the -credit, too. The rest of us are just damned good chemists. That's all. -He took the risks. If it hadn't paid off, the Dome would have been -known as Glassman's Folly." - -"Something in that," Basil said. "By the way, what have you found out -about Nadine? You two seem quite palsy walsy now." - -"She's what she claims to be," Earl said. - -"Is she?" Basil said, his eyes narrowing. "I think you're lying. Matter -of fact, you're different than you were. What's come over you?" - -"Nothing, Basil." - -"Nothing, he says," Basil said mournfully to the bench he was sitting -on. "What's happened to you? Have you been bought?" - -"What do you mean?" - -"You know what I mean. Nadine came here under mysterious circumstances, -to say the least. You were hot on the trail of something. You wanted me -to help you follow her. I couldn't, because Irene had given me my first -chance to date her. So you followed her by yourself. What happened?" - -"Sure," Earl said. "She went to the best hotel in town. I called her on -a house phone and asked her to have dinner with me. She did." - -"Did she tell you how she happened to be only four inches high and -naked when you first met her?" - -Earl stared at Basil in mock astonishment. "Basil," he said softly. -"Haven't you ever heard of that terrible scourge of the human -race--alcohol?" - -"Don't give me that!" Basil said, his nostrils flaring. "You were stone -sober. I was with you for an hour while you bought those clothes and -patiently gathered fashion magazines that would show a dame who didn't -know the first thing about it how to put them on. I saw Nadine in -this lab, being carried off by a man. I was paralyzed by a ray gun or -something from a gun. So were you." - -"He's right, Earl." - -Both men turned toward the door. It was Nadine. She closed the door and -came into the lab. - -"Maybe we should take him with us, Earl," she said. "If we don't, -he's going to think the worst things about us. I know we swore you to -secrecy, but he could wreck everything." - -"Maybe you're right," Earl said. - -"Oh no," Basil said, edging toward the door. "They _did_ something to -you, Earl. I'm not going to give them a chance to do the same thing to -me." - -"Don't be a fool," Earl said. "Let me at least explain things." - - * * * * * - -Nadine was edging toward the door to cut off Basil's escape. He saw -this, and leaped past her to the door, pulling it open. - -"Come back here and let me explain," Earl heard himself say. - -"You can explain to the Secret Service," Basil said. - -He shut the door on them. An impulse made him turn toward Dr. -Glassman's office. He would tell him first, and if that didn't get -results he would go to the S. S. boys. - -He knocked on Glassman's door and pushed it open without waiting for an -invitation. - -"Dr. Glassman," he said quickly, "something very suspicious is going on -around here. I should have told you about it sooner, but I thought Earl -would be able to explain his actions, and Nadine's. Have you looked -into her credentials? She isn't what she claims. I know, but I don't -know how I'm going to prove it right now. She's done something to Earl. -He isn't the same. They're in this together." - -"Just a minute, Dr. Nelson," Glassman cut in. "Are you trying to say -that Dr. Frye and Dr. Holmes are in on some mad scheme to sabotage the -Brain? You must be mad. Why, Dr. Frye discovered the chemical we've -spent close to a million dollars searching for!" - -"I know that," Basil said doggedly, "but just the same--" - -"You're out of your mind. What are you trying to do? Curry favor with -me at the expense of innocent and hard working people? I've a good -notion to discharge you on the spot." - -"You've got to listen to--" - -"Get out. I'll hear no more of it." - -Basil stared at him blankly, then nodded. "All right," he said, "but -you're going to have to listen later. I'm taking it to the Secret -Service. They'll have to listen." - -He backed out, closing the door on Glassman's angry face. When he -turned to go down the hall he saw Earl and Nadine coming toward him. -With them was George Ladd, his right hand in his suit coat pocket over -something bulging--the paralysis gun, maybe. - -Basil turned the other way and down another hall, running with a speed -born of fear and determination. He knew now he had been right. - -A door opened. Irene came out, almost bumping into him. "Where are you -going in such a hurry, Basil?" she demanded. - -"Can't explain now," he said. She stood in his way. "Come with me," he -said desperately. "I'll explain on the way. Hurry." - -She nodded. Together they ran down the hall and reached the side exit. -Taking Irene's hand, Basil plunged away from the sidewalk through -scattered trees, until they reached the parking lot. He unlocked his -car with shaking fingers and told Irene to get in. He rushed around to -the driver's side. - -The motor caught instantly. He started with a clash of gears. In the -rear view mirror he saw George Ladd running toward him. Then he reached -the street--and almost immediately was slowed by heavy traffic. - -Groaning under his breath, he made the best time he could. Irene -watched him silently for two blocks. - -"Aren't you going to tell me what it is?" she asked abruptly. - -"He's after me," Basil said. "We've got to get there before he can stop -me. You can listen when I tell the Secret Service about it." - -Ahead was a traffic jam. Basil turned into a side street where he made -better time. It was taking him forever to get there. But finally his -destination was just ahead. The office building where the S. S. had its -local office. - -There was a parking space. Basil swerved toward it and braked to a -stop. He reached past Irene and opened her door. - -"Get out and run for it," he said. - -The screech of tires almost drowned his voice. He looked over his -shoulder. A car had pulled up beside his in the street. He saw George -Ladd behind the wheel, alone. - -Frantically, Basil pushed Irene out and followed her, taking her hand -as they ran toward the building entrance fifteen feet away. - -"We've got to make it," he said. "We've got to...." - -There was no sound, no light, from the weapon George Ladd pointed at -them. - -Basil sprawled forward. Before he hit the sidewalk, flame burst from -his hair, his clothing. - -Irene stopped, forgetting her danger or not knowing it. She bent down -by Basil, reaching to help him. She remained in that position for -a long second while her hair and clothing burst into flames, then -crumpled against him. - -Horrified pedestrians drew back from the bodies, the stench of seared -flesh. In the street a motor roared into life. The car with George Ladd -sped away. - - * * * * * - -Earl turned away from the window. "George Ladd just brought my car -back," he said. "I guess he isn't coming in. He's walking into the -woods toward the tube entrance." - -Nadine nodded casually. - -Within his mental prison Earl worried. What had Ladd done? He wouldn't -dare to kill Basil. The worst that could happen would be that Basil -would be taken before the Cyberene and made him into a mind-slave too. - -There were footsteps in the hall. The door opened. It was Dr. Glassman, -his lips set in a grim line. - -"Dr. Frye," Glassman said. "Basil came to me with a story of something -going on he didn't like. He accused you and Dr. Holmes of some scheme -to sabotage the Brain." - -"That's utter nonsense," Earl heard himself say. - -"Why, I can't understand--" Nadine began. - -"I thought so too," Glassman said, "until I received a telephone call -from the police just now. Basil and Irene were killed a few moments ago -while on their way to try to get the Secret Service to listen to what I -refused to hear." - -"Oh," Nadine said without expression. Earl said nothing. He was too -stunned to think. - -"I'm going to get to the bottom of this," Glassman went on grimly. "You -may both consider yourselves relieved of your duties until the Secret -Service has investigated thoroughly. Save your explanations until I've -called them." - -Earl tried to warn Glassman. He forced his lips open to call to -him--and a wave of searing throbbing pain lashed at him, forcing him -back behind the gray fog. - -Through the mental haze he saw George Ladd in the doorway, a -thirty-eight Colt automatic in his hand--something Glassman would -understand. - -"Come with me, Dr. Glassman," Ladd said expressionlessly. - - * * * * * - -When Glassman returned an hour later, to all outward appearances he was -unchanged, except that he made no mention of the deaths of Basil and -Irene. Nor did he say anything about suspending Earl and Nadine. - -From his own experience Earl knew that one part of Glassman was raging -against his mental prison, perhaps feeling the sadistic torture with -which the Cyberene kept him chained. - -By a supreme effort Earl pulled himself away from thinking about what -had happened. It multiplied his determination to free himself enough to -defeat the Cyberene and destroy it. But raging impotently against the -Brain's control wouldn't accomplish a thing. - -Little by little he willed himself back to a frame of thought where he -could reach out into his conscious mind again, matching his thoughts -and moods with it. It had somehow "forgotten" much of what had -happened to Basil and Irene and Glassman. It was thinking about Nadine. - -Earl thought about her too. She loved him. She didn't know what love -was, but it was there, revealed in the brief moment she had been free -to express herself. Was that love now making her try to overthrow the -slavery of the Cyberene? Probably not. She was conditioned to accept -that inhuman intellect as her master. - -Earl shoved the real Nadine from his thoughts and dwelt on the Nadine -that was manifest. She was easy to love too--and why not? She was -everything that the true Nadine was--except that she was not the -_complete_ Nadine. She was falling in love with him too. And his own -conscious mind was in love with her. Why not make the most of it? - -He inserted the idea into his conscious thoughts, and to his delight no -alarm bells rang. The Cyberene didn't interfere. - -"Let's go to a dance tonight after work," he said. - -"A dance? I don't know how to dance." - -"I'll teach you. It isn't hard to pick up." - -"All right," Nadine said. - -Earl worked hard the rest of the day. Tank trucks were bringing the -nerve fluid to the Dome in a never ending stream. Every load had to -be tested before it was unloaded into the storage tanks, to make sure -its quality was up to standard. One five thousand gallon load could -contaminate it all. - -At six o'clock he was relieved of his work. He dressed eagerly, finding -no difficulty in _meshing_ one hundred per cent with the desires of his -conscious mind. He picked up Nadine at her hotel. - -Crestmont boasted only two places worth going. One was just a dance -floor, the other The Barn, with a small orchestra and dinners. - -"The orchestra isn't as good here at The Barn," Earl said when they -went in, "but we can have a table and enjoy ourselves." - -They ordered their dinner. The orchestra started playing and soon the -floor was fairly crowded. Earl took Nadine's hand and led her to the -dance floor. After a few steps she discovered that she could dance -quite easily. It delighted her. - -They returned to their table finally, and ate. Afterward they danced -again. Two of the other scientists were there with their partners. They -nodded at Earl and Nadine but didn't join them. - -During all this, Earl was careful not to insert any feeling, any -impulse of his own into his conscious mind. What he intended to do -must come as a surprise to both Nadine and the Cyberene, and afterwards -they must think it to be the product of that conscious mind--not Earl -himself. - -His opportunity arose naturally. While they were dancing he spoke -to her. She lifted her face to smile at him. Swiftly he kissed her, -letting his lips linger until the throbbing and an angriness beat into -him and a power outside himself pulled him back. - -He retreated in his mind, afraid even to think, lest the Cyberene sense -his thoughts and realize what he had been trying. - -"Why did you do that?" he heard Nadine say from a great distance, -through waves of torture. - -His own voice replied, "That was a kiss." - -"How disgusting," Nadine said. - -Had she meant that? Or were those just words put in her mouth by the -Cyberene. - -"It's one of our customs," Earl's voice said. "Watch the others on the -dance floor. Quick! See that couple over at the corner table?" - -Earl crept cautiously into his conscious mind to watch Nadine. She -studied the couple, puzzled. She looked up into his face thoughtfully -and began dancing again. "Maybe," she said, "it won't seem so -disgusting if we try it again." - -Her lips parted. Earl felt his head bend toward her. He felt the kiss, -but held himself cautiously alert for the first sign of disapproval -from the Cyberene. It didn't come. - -The moment passed. Earl began to relax. Had the Cyberene assumed it was -a natural action of his conscious mind divorced from him? If so, then a -major hurdle had been met successfully. - -"It is rather pleasant," Nadine said. Then, thoughtfully, "So that's a -kiss." - -Earl looked at her sharply. Was it possible that the real Nadine had -caused those words to be spoken? Maybe. It provided a new avenue of -speculation. Had Nadine long ago discovered what he was so patiently -trying now--how to circumvent the control of the Cyberene? She could -have, but not seeing any reason to do so, kept her talent hidden. - - * * * * * - -Two more days passed. Earl forgot his caution and boldly cooperated -with his conscious mind on the many tasks that took up his time. And -strangely he was almost free of pain, though it never entirely left. - -Dr. Glassman took all the scientists with him on a tour of inspection -within the Brain. The millions of fine glass tubes and hollow bulbs -that comprised the Brain would soon start being filled with nerve -fluid. Although tons of pressure per square inch were required to force -it into the tubes, once there, capillary attraction pulled it along. - -On the first trip Earl retreated from his conscious mind as much as -possible, while still watching everything around him closely. He had -been inside the Brain many times before--but never with any thought of -discovering a weakness where it could be destroyed. - -That was the task he had set himself. It was an almost impossible one. -Destroying the Brain now, in 1980, might not accomplish his purpose. -The damage could be repaired. - -He thought of dynamite and rejected it. It would deteriorate long -before 3042, and even if it remained potent, it would do no more than -damage a small part of the Brain--not enough to more than partially -impair its thinking or give it a case of specialized forgetfulness. A -dynamite explosion in such an enormous brain would be equivalent to a -blood clot on a human brain. - -Nothing better presented itself to him on that first trip. Was he going -to fail? - -The next day pumping of the nerve fluid began. The masses of hair-fine -glass tubing lost their appearance of glass wool and began to appear as -individual threads of yellowish orange. - -It would be many days before the "loading", as it was termed, would be -completed, but everyone was kept busy watching it, and catching broken -threads as they started to ooze fluid, sealing them with a special -formula sealer. - -During these days a dozen plans to destroy the Brain occurred to Earl. -Each had its defects that would make it fail. As the "loading" neared -its last day, only one possibility remained. - -Great precautions had been taken to make the Brain free from vibration. -The slightest sound of almost any frequency, if continued long enough, -would find a nerve strand that would vibrate to it and snap. - -A loudspeaker broadcasting at full power over the entire range of sound -would be more devastating to the Brain than a ton of dynamite exploded -in its heart. There was the answer--Vibration! - -But once again there was the problem of installing it, and being able -to use it after a thousand years. Install it and use a clock to trigger -it? That was one possibility. Clocks run by atomic power would keep -accurate time over much longer periods. - -_But there was the problem of getting the Cyberene to agree to the -installation of such a device._ That was necessary. During the days -that Earl had studied the Cyberene's control of his conscious mind -he had found no way to gain any sort of positive control which the -Cyberene couldn't shunt out at once. Therefore whatever plan he devised -must meet with the approval of the Cyberene. - -Tentatively he inserted a bold thought, feeling sure that the Cyberene -wouldn't attribute it to him, but merely to the logical processes of -his conscious mind. - -_What if the Brain doesn't develop along lines sympathetic to you?_ -He elaborated upon it, feeding worry thoughts along with it. A second -Brain might not follow the line of development of the first, any more -than one human develops like another, even when they are twins. Rather -than accomplishing his aim of having a second Cyberene on the other -Earth in 3042, holding the human population in slavery, it might prove -a more formidable enemy than the people of that Earth. And if that -turned out to be the case, wouldn't it be better to have a trump card? -Some way of destroying the second Cyberene at any time? Even if it were -friendly to the first, it might want to be boss. Power of life and -death over it would prevent that. - -Earl's conscious mind, entirely cooperative with the Cyberene, soon -began to think very dominantly along those lines. Earl sat back and -waited for some reaction from the Cyberene. It was not long in coming. - -At five o'clock Nadine looked him up and informed him that they were to -report to the Cyberene at once. - - * * * * * - -"I have detected certain thoughts in your mind," the voice of the -Cyberene sounded. "I would like to hear what you have to say." - -Earl sensed his mind rallying its thoughts. "I've been wondering what -the other Cyberene would be like. That's all. There's no guarantee that -it will have any special traits that will make it what you want it to -be, and once it's started it's out of your control, isn't it?" - -"That's true. Time travel and even fifth dimension travel is extremely -limited. Once the other Cyberene is generated, I can't contact it until -3042--now." - -"Can you look into your future and see--" - -"Unfortunately, no. I can't even see into your tomorrow. I might, -perhaps, jump to the year 4104 A. D., but even that is beyond my -present ability and instruments. It may be many centuries before I -understand everything about hyperspace." - -"That's what I surmised," Earl heard himself say. He stole a glance -at Nadine, who was watching him attentively. "That's why I think, for -your own protection, you should be able to destroy the other Cyberene -instantly--if it isn't what you hope it will be." - -"How?" The Cyberene's voice was vibrant with eagerness. - -"The basic device would be sound vibrations in the air, inside its -braincase. A loud continuous sound of nearly all frequencies would -cause billions of nerve strands to vibrate, and enough of them would -break to destroy the functioning of the whole. That could be built into -it in 1980. The problem is to decide how to trigger it. Do you have any -ideas?" - -"It's very simple," the Cyberene said. "It will never forget once it -learns something. Before its mind integrates into a self aware ego, -attach a relay to some motor outlets. Decide on some key combination of -sounds that might be spoken. Repeat them into the auditory centers of -the Brain, at the same time tripping the relay. Keep doing that until -utterance of the sequence of sounds causes the relay to trip. When that -response is automatic, connect the relay to the loudspeaker. Once you -have done that, report to me. Then all I need do is contact the second -Cyberene, in this age, and if I want to destroy it I can repeat the -sounds." - -Earl, in his mental cubicle, chuckled. He could not have thought of a -better way himself. - -"And," the Cyberene said, "in order to account for your task, you had -better 'sell' Glassman on the idea. Tell him it's so that _mankind_ can -destroy the Brain if necessary. But make sure no one in 1980 knows the -key sounds. You may return to 1980." - - * * * * * - -"I've had much the same thought," Victor Glassman said, chewing on his -lip. "I rather hated to think about it though. Destroy my Creation? -Still, I suppose it's wise--to be _able_ to." He stood up and came -around from behind his desk. - -Earl and Nadine watched without speaking as he clasped his hands behind -his back and went to the window of his office which brought him a view -of part of the giant dome housing the Brain. - -"Every precaution is being taken otherwise. Until we can be sure of -ourselves we don't intend on letting the Brain have control of any -machines or weapons. Of course we could forget that danger, in time, -and suddenly wake up to the fact that we were too late. Then it would -be nice to still be able to.... All right. Go ahead. Keep it under your -hats though. And when you're done we can form a select group, handing -the--" he smiled wryly,--"password down from generation to generation." - -"I have the plans all drawn up," Earl said. "An electrostatic speaker, -because it can be built with parts that will last forever. No moving -parts in the frequency generator or amplifier. Leads to the permanent -busses that will supply current for such things as video eyes and the -voice speaker system...." - -"Good. Good. Only we will indoctrinate that Mind early so that it will -never do anything detrimental to us." - -"Of course," Earl soothed. "This is only precautionary." - - * * * * * - -Days followed one another swiftly. A factory-made electrostatic -loudspeaker arrived, and was dismantled so that some of its parts could -be replaced with more durable ones. Specifications for the frequency -generators and the amplifier were farmed out, and the completed units -arrived. - -There was trouble with the relay. It was well designed, but there -was doubt whether it would still be in working condition after ten -centuries. Earl sent specifications to a jewelry manufacturer in Kansas -City and had its moving parts made of synthetic ruby and platinum. - -The Cyberene _watched_ every step of construction--and so did Earl, -from within his artificially created mental wall, careful not to reveal -the huge holes he had knocked in it. - -With the arrival of the remade relay, Earl and Nadine entered the -Brain, setting up a vibration-proof chasis in its innermost heart -where the maze of fine spun glass was now a maze of yellowish threads -containing a fluid with exactly the same properties as human nerve -fluid. - -Outside, swarming over the catwalks and dotting the immense corridor -circling the Brain, were dozens of technicians and experts, beginning -the task of barraging the gigantic man-made brain with a never ending -sequence of visual and audible sensory impressions which, according to -theory, would eventually synthesize that miracle of creation loosely -known as thought in the thousands of tons of glass and nerve fluid. - -Using a portable low power microscope and the techniques he had -acquired during the months of work on the Brain in its construction, -Earl attached motor buds to randomly chosen nerves, and sensory buds to -others, attaching them to the transistors that would feed the relay, so -that the action of the relay would set up nerve impulses in the Brain. -When it had been done, he used sensitive detectors to make sure ion -currents were generated in the nerves. - -Where those nerve impulses went to among the billions of "brain cells" -didn't matter. All that mattered was that they went _somewhere_, so -that the basic property of association would "hook them on" to the -auditory impression created by speaking the code word or sequence of -code sounds. - -"What should we use as the code sounds?" Nadine asked as their task -neared completion. - -"I've been trying to think of something," Earl said. - -And in his mental prison Earl had been trying to think of the -same thing, keeping track of his conscious mind's thoughts on the -subject--even influencing them at times. - -It would have to be a sequence of sounds that stood no chance whatever -of being spoken to the Brain during the next thousand years. Otherwise -they might be spoken by chance and the Brain destroyed. - -"How about nonsense syllables?" Nadine suggested. - -Earl grinned. "Those are the most dangerous of all. Take Y.M.C.A. It's -the initials of a huge organization. Any nonsense sequence of letters, -no matter how long, might someday be the letters of some organization." - -Nadine frowned in bewilderment. "But what else is there? If we take -any sequence of sensible words, they might be repeated in reference to -something else at any time." - -"Not if they're _very_ special," Earl said, and it was the real Earl -Frye, almost completely out of his mental walls and daring discovery -recklessly, who was speaking now. - -An impish light glowed in Nadine's eyes, making Earl almost sure that -the real Nadine had sensed long ago what he was doing and had done the -same, _meshing_ cautiously with her conscious mind until at times, -camouflaged by its normal thoughts, she could _appear_. - -"Kiss me, Earl Frye," she said, lifting her face toward his. - -"The pleasure is all mine, Nadine Holmes," he said, cupping her face in -his hands and pressing his lips to hers. "And that's what I mean," he -murmured through imprisoned lips. "No one else, through all the ages, -will say those words, let alone say them in the same way." - -She drew back. "No!" she said abruptly. "The Cyberene has promised that -we can stay in your time, free to do as we please. That would mean that -we would have to be in the future--in _my_ time." - -"But only until the Cyberene could make sure," Earl said, glad that she -had made that objection. It would allay the Cyberene's suspicions if -it had any. - -A telepathed thought impinged on Earl's mind, and from Nadine's -expression, on hers too. _Earl is right. I have thought of the problem -of what the key sound should be. He has hit on the right answer. It -must be your voices, filled with emotion, speaking those words you just -spoke._ - -Again Earl relaxed with a mental sigh of relief. He had reached his -goal. There was nothing more for him to do now, except wait. His -conscious mind would carry on the details under the supervision of the -Cyberene. - - * * * * * - -A microphone was brought into the Brain, already attached to the -auditory centers of the Brain. Earl examined the microphone, then went -in search of another type. "We must have one with a contact button on -it," he explained, "so that just the key words impinge on the Brain -when we close the relay manually." - -At last everything was ready. "Now!" Earl said. - -Nadine lifted her face and closed her eyes. "Kiss me, Earl Frye," she -said. - -Earl released the button. "That isn't the way," he said. "Imagine we -are alone in the universe, and we are about to die. Imagine swirling -mists about to envelope you and drag you away from me forever, and -this is the last kiss you'll ever get!" - -"Oh, no!" Nadine whispered, opening her eyes wide. "That must never -happen! The Cyberene has promised!" - -"Close your eyes and imagine it is," Earl said. "Close your eyes. -Now--there are swirling mists. Your world of dreams has crashed around -you. Ahead is--destruction. You can't escape it. It's coming, closer. -You're going to die, but before you do you want--" - -"Kiss me, Earl Frye," Nadine said. - -"That's it. Say it again." Earl pressed the mike button. - -"Kiss me, Earl Frye...." - -Earl closed his eyes. It was the end. In another moment he would die. -He had failed. He held this in his mind's eye. With a mixture of -sadness and tenderness, and bitterness, he said, "The pleasure is all -mine, Nadine Holmes," and tripped the relay with his fingers. - -Would it work? After the hundredth try he began to wonder. But the -repeated words with their inflections, their subtle differences in -repetition, had to build up in the Brain, synthesize, associate with -the sensation of the tripping of the relay--and _connect_. There was -as yet no _mind_ functioning in that mass of glass and nerve fluid. No -ready made paths to coordinated concepts, conscious thought. - -It was the next day before his fingers felt the relay trip of its -own accord. _Drama_, he thought, feeling the thrill of that sentient -movement. He said nothing to Nadine, not wanting to end their game. And -the next time the relay didn't trip. And the next. But the next time it -did, and the next and the next.... - - * * * * * - -"You're done?" Dr. Glassman said, rubbing his hands in great -satisfaction. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "What is the code -word?" - -Earl winked at Nadine, then looked around in a pretense at making sure -no one could hear. "We picked L.S.M.F.T.," he whispered. "I figured -that since a cigarette company had used that in its advertising years -ago, it would never be used again by anybody." - -"Excellent!" Glassman beamed. "Excellent! To think that by uttering -those five letters this entire project, representing millions of -dollars--before it's a completely integrated Mind--can be _shattered_." -He looked around him, exuding a sense of his newly acquired power. - -"And," Earl said ruefully, "I guess that winds up everything for me in -Project Brain, doesn't it? I hope so. I could use a vacation." - -Dr. Glassman looked slyly from Earl to Nadine. "Are congratulations in -order?" - -Earl bent swiftly and whispered in Glassman's ear, "I haven't asked -her yet. I wanted to wait until our work was over. You know, business -before pleasure." - -"Ha ha!" Glassman chuckled knowingly, looking at Nadine with an -I-know-a-secret look. "You're a man after my own heart, Earl." Then, -more soberly, "Yes, I guess you are due for a vacation. And your -consultant duties are finished, Dr. Holmes. I'll miss both of you." - -Earl and Nadine left Glassman outside the Brain, and returned to the -lab annex. They didn't speak as they walked down the hall to Earl's -lab. They stood just inside the door, looking over the scene of -machines and instruments and tables and bottles which had been their -surroundings for so long. - -Earl looked at the lab table where he had first seen Nadine, so many -days--it seemed ages--ago. He would never see this place again. He -entertained no illusions about the future. The Cyberene would never -permit them to return to 1980. - -With heavy feet he went across the lab to his living quarters. He began -packing, and Nadine sat on the arm of a chair, watching. - -"What are you doing?" she asked. - -"Packing my belongings to take with us," Earl said. - -"Oh, but you don't need to do that. We'll be back in a few hours--a day -or two at the most. The Cyberene has promised. Just as soon as it makes -sure it doesn't need us." - -"Sure," Earl said, "but I'll take them just the same. Then when we come -back we can go straight to the airport and catch a plane to Miami or -someplace and get married." - -Fifteen minutes later they left the lab. They walked along the familiar -sidewalk to the spot where they always cut through the woods toward the -hill, circling it so no one would know where they had gone. - -They reached the clearing. Ahead, shimmering in the evening sun, was -the familiar refractive outline in the atmosphere. There was no breeze -to stir the still leaves. A meadowlark broke the silence with its call, -and was silent. Over the trees the giant dome that housed the Brain -loomed, unbelievable in its enormous bulk. - -Nadine took his hand and stopped him. "Kiss me, Earl Frye," she said, -her lips trembling. - -Earl looked down at her upturned face. Did she know? Perhaps the real -Nadine, within, sensed what was to come. - -Or perhaps she didn't. - -The tom tom beat of pain began within him. He forced his way through -it, taking her into his arms. - -"The pleasure is all mine, Nadine Holmes," he murmured. - -Their lips met, tenderly, then crushed together with the fierceness of -passion. - -Their lips parted, lingeringly, regretfully. They drew back, to look -into each other's eyes for a brief moment, a moment Earl knew the -Cyberene had given them to make more bitter what was to come. - -Earl saw the glow fade from Nadine's eyes. As he picked up his -suitcases he heard someone approaching. - -Victor Glassman joined them, his face gray, his expression wooden. - -This was it. Glassman might be missed. There might be an investigation, -but Project Brain would go on regardless of that now. And the only ones -who might stop it were here. - -Side by side they walked toward the barely perceptible refractive -shimmer. Beyond it they could see the woodland, a Bluejay's flashing -wings, a chipmunk standing upright, observing them. And then they were -standing in the familiar hall, in the year 3042. - -George Ladd was not there, but there was no need for him to be there. -Their bodies, controlled by the Mind that enslaved them, walked on -toward the far exit and the garden they would cross--to the Dome, the -Cyberene. - - * * * * * - -There was no turning back now. Nor would there be other days to perfect -the technique of _meshing_ with his mind. Earl reached out into every -part of his thoughts, thinking them, identifying himself with them, -with the desires of the Cyberene. In that other Earth so close to this -there would now be a second Cyberene. There must be, since nothing -stood in the way of its developing throughout the ten centuries and -more since they had left it, a few minutes ago. - -They entered the garden and paused. Earl dropped his two suitcases -beside the path. He took Nadine's hand in his. They went on toward the -portal that led into the Dome. - -They walked down the silent circling corridor under the network -of catwalks and ladders, past panels of instruments whose needles -fluctuated with life, to the red squares over which hung the glass -cages, ready to be lowered. Would they be lowered, separating them from -each other while they faced the Cyberene? - -The glittering lenses of the two video cameras moved as they went -toward them, keeping them in line. - -"All of you occupy one square," the Cyberene's voice instructed. - -They obeyed without sign of emotion. The glass cage was lowered over -them. Its front wall became a window through which they were looking -at the familiar Dome. - -But it was a structure around which weeds grew in thick profusion, with -its acres of exposed surface pitted by time, untended. - -"What happened?" Earl said. "Do you mean to say that there is still -something to be done?" - -"There is nothing to be done," the Cyberene said dully. "I have checked -in that other time stream. There is still positive record that the -Brain was not activated." - -"Maybe it takes time for the momentum of events to force the change," -Earl suggested. - -Didn't the Cyberene suspect yet? Didn't it _realize_? - -"No," the Cyberene said dully. "I have failed. More, I have re-checked -the mathematical basis of the theoretical picture, and think I know -where I erred. The cause of the split that created two Earths, -travelling close together down through so many centuries, could not -have been something occurring in the original time stream. It took -something applied from the fifth dimension--and in the neighborhood of -the split that could only have been one thing, _the force with which -the time tube hooked onto 1980_. It had to be that. The accident. I -didn't take it into account." - -"That's what I've thought all along," Earl said quietly. - -"At that instant," the Cyberene went on as though it hadn't heard him, -"the split occurred. You became two Earl Fryes, to mention one facet of -the split. One of you went its way, making an accurate report of its -experiments, creating me eventually--" - -While the Cyberene talked, the desolate scene vanished, and the glass -cage lifted upward slowly, as though it were a curtain, lifting for the -final scene. - -The twin lenses of the Cyberene's video eyes were fixed on them, alive -with an intelligence that was inhuman. - -"No," Earl said. "_That_ one of me discovered the identity of the nerve -substance, but suppressed it." - -"That couldn't be," the Cyberene objected. "Nothing appeared in its -life to cause it to do that. You were the one who had the data to make -such a decision." - -"But I reported accurately," Earl said. _Even yet it didn't see!_ - -"I know," the Cyberene said, "but it can't be, because then that -electrostatic speaker would be--" It stopped. - -"Deep inside of you," Earl continued. "Waiting only for--" - - * * * * * - -A wave of emotion blasted into his mind, driving him by its very force -into the deep recesses behind his wall of gray, into a cosmos of mind -wrenching pain. - -"No!" the thought blasted into him. "No human can have the power to -destroy me! It can't exist. _You_ can't exist another instant, with the -danger to me!" - -In agony Earl reached out, meshing little by little with his conscious -mind, _feeling_ its terror and fear of death, calming it, controlling -it with all the infinite skill he had learned during the past weeks. - -And even as he gained control against the will of the Cyberene he -realized with a sinking feeling the essential weakness of his plan. -Nadine! - -He had been criminally stupid, blinded by emotion toward her. She was -conditioned from birth to accept the domination of the mind of the -Cyberene. - -Sweating with the terrible effort it took to hold on, he forced -his muscles to permit him to turn toward her. His worst fears were -realized. She stood there, her face a calm mask that revealed no -emotion. - -Abruptly the raging force of thought and searing torture from the -Cyberene calmed. In its place was cold triumph. - -"So you have been able to defeat me in your own mind," it said. "You -made _your_ error in calculation too. Nadine Holmes. She is mine." - -"Nadine Holmes?" It was Nadine who uttered the two words, her lips -trembling with terrible effort, beads of sweat dotting her smooth -forehead. - -Hope surged into Earl's thoughts. "But you can't allow her to live -either, can you?" he said. "In another moment you must destroy us -both, so that nothing can ever threaten your existence. We will have -only another minute or two before you reach into us, plunging us into -the gray swirling mists of death, where we will be separated forever. -_There is no way we can avoid that now, is there?_" - -Nadine had turned toward Earl, every muscle of her slim body protesting -under the domination of the Cyberene. Earl was forgotten by the Brain -as it concentrated on the battle against Nadine. - -She held out her arms, perspiring with the effort. "Kiss me, Earl -Frye," she whispered. - -A blast of fear flowed into Earl's mind. He fought to the surface -of thought, clinging there, calming himself. But defeat was -close--impossible to avoid. - -It had been a wonderful plan to destroy this thing that ruled the minds -of men, making them its slaves. Resistance was useless. In another -moment he would be dead. - -Bitterly, hopelessly, with infinite sadness, he said, as though -somewhere long ago he had repeated it before, a tender ritual whose -meaning now escaped him, "The pleasure is all mine, Nadine Holmes." - -Their lips met with the tenderness of farewell. - - * * * * * - -A _sound_ came into being, seeming to come from far away, yet seeming -to exist everywhere, with no point of origin. It was at the same time a -deep rumble and an insane, high screaming--and every sound in between -that had ever been uttered by voice or machine or unleashed elements in -desolate places. It was soulless, yet holding within itself the torment -of every lost soul since the beginning of time. - -It forced its way into Earl's consciousness, hung there as though -stopped by some hidden barrier. Abruptly it swept forward, and as it -swept into the farthest reaches of Earl's mind it washed away throbbing -pain, the sense of inescapable doom, leaving _a sense of freedom_--a -clean freshness, an emotion of peace. - -A rapid coruscation of words, syllables, and sounds whispered and -blasted from the voice box of the Cyberene as neural circuits within -the Brain snapped or short-circuited. - -Earl and Nadine lifted their heads in startled surprise and a new -awakening. They saw the glittering lens eyes that had been watching -them jerk spasmodically. Within the lens of one electronic eye a flash -of blue fire exploded. Then both eyes became motionless, dead, pointed -in different directions. - -Overhead, giant blinding bolts of unleashed current leaped from copper -bars to catwalks. The smell of molten and burning metal filled the air. -Then, as though cut off by some hidden hand, the unholy sound within -the Brain stopped. The arcing surges of electric power in the catwalks -and power lines overhead stilled. - -There was silence, and motionless clouds of white and gray smoke. - -It took a moment for Earl to realize that in defeat he had won. It took -another moment for him to realize that it was not he who had won, but -Nadine--her love for him--a love that had grown in a girl who had never -known that love existed. - -There was no doubt of it now as he watched the play of expression that -crossed her face. Fear, doubt, hope, desperate hope, living hope, love, -fear, then all the love that had developed within her, shining from her -face with the spiritual brilliance of a brilliant sun. - -"Earl!" It was a glad cry. She clung to him as though she would never -let him go. - -For that matter, she would never need to, he thought, as he drew her -closer. They would need each other for the rest of their lives. Or for -a dozen lifetimes if they could have that many. - -"My God!" The words exploded into their minds. They had been uttered by -Dr. Glassman, and they contained all the horror, the comprehension of -everything that had happened, that the mind-enslavement had given to -him. - -"It's over now," Earl said. "The Cyberene is dead." - -Glassman shook his head vigorously. "It should never have existed in -the first place," he said. "All my dreams of what it could do to help -humanity. We've got to destroy the Brain in 1980, before any of this -can happen." - -Earl shook his head, looking at Nadine. "Nadine and I are staying -here," he said quietly. "There's work to do that only we can do. -People, their minds freed for the first time, bewildered, needing to -be led a little ways into the path of freedom until they can care for -themselves. A future to build--from 3042." - -"You can stay if you must," Glassman said, his voice vibrant with the -shock and horror of what he had experienced, "but I'm going back--to -prevent this 3042 from ever happening. I can do it. I can trip that -relay manually. It will destroy--" His voice broke. "--my life's work. -But it has to be done." - -He turned and ran blindly. - - * * * * * - -Earl made no move to stop him. He watched him vanish around the bend of -the corridor, waiting fatalistically. Would the scientist be able to -wipe out this time stream? Deep within him, Earl felt it couldn't be -done. The Cyberene had tried to change the past, and failed. - -Perhaps the Cyberene had been wrong in what it believed had caused the -split in time that produced two Earths. Maybe one part of Glassman -would be unable to bring itself to destroy its Creation, the Brain. -Maybe that's what had happened. Maybe Glassman, torn between two -opposed decisions, had been able to act on neither. - -Earl put his arm around Nadine. They walked slowly along the curving -corridor, circling the dead Brain, going toward the outside. They would -have work to do. Work that only they, the coalition of 1980 and 3042 -could accomplish together. - -There were people here in this world of 3042. How many or how few -didn't matter. They were the nucleus, the beginnings of a future -that would grow from 3042. They were the not-born, created in the -laboratory. They would have to be taught about life. And love. - -And other things that free men know. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CYBERENE *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Cyberene</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Rog Phillips</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: August 29, 2021 [eBook #66163]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CYBERENE ***</div> - -<div class="figcenter x-ebookmaker-drop"> - <img src="images/illusc.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>THE CYBERENE</h1> - -<h2>By Rog Phillips</h2> - -<p>Somewhere in the far future a diabolical<br /> -brain plotted the enslavement of mankind. But<br /> -to do that a history had to be changed—ours!</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy<br /> -September 1953<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>"Victor!"</p> - -<p>Her voice shattered the cathedral silence, going the full four hundred -and fifty foot perimeter of the fourteen foot wide floor that encircled -the case of the <i>Brain</i>. The echo rebounded from the maze of ladders -and catwalks that went up and up until they were lost to view where the -fifteen foot thick outer wall began its upward slope to form the giant -dome.</p> - -<p>The silence returned; as motionless as the needles on the instrument -panels resting on their zero pegs, unactivated; as enduring in essence -as the atom proof concrete dome built to last—as long as the Earth -itself.</p> - -<p>Then—a sound answered. A faint sound. Footsteps. Movement appeared -through the grillwork of steel catwalks above. Trousered legs. A hand -sliding along a railing of chrome pipe. More rapid steps as the man -descended a steep stair well. Sharper as the man reached the marble -floor.</p> - -<p>Dead video camera eyes let his passage go unregistered. Sensitive -quartz crystals inside glistening microphone shells vibrated to the -sound of his footsteps, his soft breathing, sending feeble currents -along wires—to dead amplifying circuits.</p> - -<p>"What is it, Ethel?" Dr. Victor Glassman said to his wife.</p> - -<p>"Don't you realize it's almost an hour past your lunch time?" she -chided. "Why do you come in here anyway? The Brain was completed six -months ago. It won't run away—and it won't come to life until someone -finds the proper chemical for the nerve fluid to make it work. My -goodness. Eight hundred and fifty million dollars sitting idle in here. -It gives me gooseflesh. Now you come and eat your lunch so I can -get the dishes out of the way. I'm going to be busy the rest of the -afternoon getting ready for the crowd—or did you forget that your ten -scientists are invited to dinner this evening?"</p> - -<p>"Of course not, Ethel," he said, putting his arm around her waist. He -pulled her around so they were side by side, looking upward into the -maze of catwalks, seeing the marble panels of the wall that served as a -covering for the huge man-made brain. "<i>You</i> know why I come in here," -he said. "I like the feel. The sleeping giant. Not sleeping, really. -Just not born yet. Not living yet. Someday soon that will change. The -first non-human...."</p> - -<p>"I understand, Victor," Ethel said softly. "It scares me. I know it -will be just like a human mind—same principles of thought—even if -it will be housed in so vast a brain. But how much do we know of the -capabilities of the <i>human</i> brain? I'm afraid."</p> - -<p>Dr. Glassman's eyes crinkled goodnaturedly. He tightened his arm around -her waist.</p> - -<p>"I'll protect you, Ethel," he said.</p> - -<p>She looked up at the giant structure that dwarfed them to -insignificance. "Against that?" she snorted. "What with? A lance and -prancing nag of leather and bones like Don Quixote of old?" She -slipped her arm around his shoulders, her expression softening. "But I -know what you mean. Only ... it's...."</p> - -<p>"And I know what you mean, too. Sometimes even I'm afraid of it. -But once we activate it, it will take years for it to build up a -self-integrated mind even equal to a child's. And we'll both be long -dead before its intelligence starts climbing above that of man. You -know, I'm hungry."</p> - -<p>Together, arm in arm, they departed, closing the door. And once again -the echoes died away, leaving only the silence.</p> - -<p>And the Brain.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"How about being quiet for a minute so I won't get these mixed -up?" Earl Frye said, a mask of tolerant good nature concealing his -irritation. "By the way, what's wrong with p. n. 9? Bottleneck?"</p> - -<p>Irene Conner clapped her hand over her mouth and spoke from between her -fingers. "Go ahead and pour," she mumbled. "I'll keep quiet for five -minutes."</p> - -<p>"Okay," Earl said, unaffected by the twinkle in Irene's clear blue -eyes, the smooth wave of her blonde hair, the quiet unscientific curves -under her lab apron.</p> - -<p>He picked the first vial off the tray, read the number on its label and -carefully jotted it down on the lab card. He emptied the vial into -the small opening on top the pump and flicked the toggle switch. With -a smooth whir the pump started. The pressure gauge needle broke from -zero and started upward, finally hovering near the seven ton per square -inch mark. He watched as the fluid he had poured emerged into glass -tubing no thicker than a human hair, and, under the tons per square -inch pressure, stretched into fine fluid columns less than half a dozen -molecules thick.</p> - -<p>He repeated the performance with another vial and another pump, and -another, until all ten pumps were working. He went back to the first -one. The fluid had reached the slightly enlarged bubble several inches -up the thread-like glass tubes. He shut off the pump, then went through -the same routine with the other ten.</p> - -<p>"That show I want to see is on at the Rialto, Earl," Irene said. "Just -tonight and tomorrow night."</p> - -<p>"Good," Earl grunted, starting to recheck the charts. "Let me know if -you liked it. If it's any good I might go see it."</p> - -<p>"Why don't you come see it with me?" Irene said.</p> - -<p>"Uh," Earl hesitated, not looking up from a chart he was studying.</p> - -<p>He was saved by the hall door opening.</p> - -<p>"Hi, Basil," he said, taking in Basil Nelson's expression of mild -haste, and the empty test tube in his hand.</p> - -<p>Irene frowned in annoyance.</p> - -<p>Basil looked at her with a mixture of apology and hopefulness, then -turned to Earl. "Uh, I came in to borrow some base formula," he said. -"Just need a few cc's and didn't want to take the time to get a full -gallon from the storeroom."</p> - -<p>"Help yourself," Earl said. He grinned sidewise at Irene. "By the way, -Irene is looking for someone to go with her to see some show that's on -at the Rialto."</p> - -<p>"I'll be glad to," Basil said eagerly.</p> - -<p>"No thanks," Irene said. "I'm going with my aunt."</p> - -<p>"Your aunt?" Basil said. "I didn't know you had an aunt living in -Crestmont." He went to a supply shelf over a wall bench and poured some -base formula from a rubber tube dangling from a large bottle.</p> - -<p>"She just arrived in town," Irene said dryly.</p> - -<p>"Can I meet her?" Basil said coming back from the supply shelf. He was -facing Irene and half facing Earl. He was in a position so that there -was nothing between him and the window across the room.</p> - -<p>"Sorry," Irene said. "She's leaving town in the morning. I'm sure—Oh, -how can you be so clumsy, Basil?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The test tube had dropped from his hand. Small glass fragments and the -oily fluid were spattered on the floor and his shoes. He was examining -a small cut on the inside of his thumb that was beginning to bleed.</p> - -<p>"Clumsy?" he said absently. "Oh no. I didn't drop the test tube. It -broke in my hand."</p> - -<p>"It couldn't have," Irene said accusingly. "You dropped it."</p> - -<p>"What's the difference?" Earl said. "Here. I'll get you another test -tube with some base fluid. No harm done."</p> - -<p>He opened a drawer and took out a new test tube. When he was closing -the drawer he glanced absently toward the window. His eyes widened. -"What the devil!" he exclaimed. "Look at that. The window's broken too."</p> - -<p>"That's odd—too strange a coincidence," Basil frowned.</p> - -<p>"Supersonic vibrations?" Earl said, smiling. "Maybe a foreign spy has -heard of Project Synthetic Nerve Fluid and was trying to kill Basil -with a new secret weapon!"</p> - -<p>"Ha ha," Basil said without humor. He accepted the test tube of base -formula from Earl. "Thanks, Earl," he said. He went to the door. There -he turned appealingly to Irene. "I would like to take you—and your -aunt—to the show, Irene," he said.</p> - -<p>"Sorry," Irene said, smiling at him sympathetically. "We'll have too -much we want to talk about."</p> - -<p>"Uh—okay," Basil said unhappily.</p> - -<p>"He's such a jerk," Irene said when Basil had left. "All he would do is -fawn over me all evening. I'd—I'd rather go alone," she added, looking -at Earl appealingly.</p> - -<p>"Sure," Earl said. "Be sure and let me know how you like the show. -Now—" He smiled half jokingly to take the sting from his words. -"Scram. I've got work to do."</p> - -<p>Irene made a face at him and went to the door.</p> - -<p>When she was gone, Earl sighed wearily. Then he frowned at the broken -window.</p> - -<p>Carefully he stood where Basil had been standing when the test tube -broke. He held his hand in approximately the same position that Basil -had held it. Trying not to move his hand, he stooped and squinted over -his hand toward the broken window, and beyond it.</p> - -<p>A hundred yards away, outside the room, a small hill rose above the -wall surrounding the research building. Earl fixed a spot and then went -to the window to examine it more closely.</p> - -<p>Uneasily he stood so that he was half concealed by the wall of the -room. He studied the hill for a minute.</p> - -<p>He went to a door at the far side of his lab, and went through into a -large room where he had his living quarters. He took some keys from his -pocket as he approached a desk. He unlocked the top right hand drawer -and took out a small blunt automatic. He checked it and put it in his -hip pocket. He slipped off his lab apron and put on a suit coat.</p> - -<p>A few minutes later he was approaching the spot he had picked out on -the side of the hill. There were trees and shrubs that hid the ground. -He watched worriedly, the automatic in his hand now. But there seemed -nothing to be alarmed about. Nothing could be more peaceful than the -wooded hillside. And yet whatever had caused the simultaneous breaking -of the window pane and the test tube could not have been caused by -natural means.</p> - -<p><i>Something</i>, directly ahead, concealed by shrubs, had caused it. What? -He intended to find out.</p> - -<p>He circled to the left, walking cautiously. With his left hand he -parted branches to see into a thicket.</p> - -<p>Almost at once he saw the strange structure. It was shaped like a -puffball, three feet in diameter at its thickest part, and almost -as high. Its surface was of something that had an oily blue sheen. -Its base seemed partly buried in the soil, and the ground was freshly -damaged as though the ball-like shape had landed with great force.</p> - -<p>To add to the evidence that it had fallen from great height, the side -was split open, and dozens of small semi-transparent balls of different -colors were spilled out onto the grass and weeds.</p> - -<p>He pushed aside the bushes and approached, slowly putting the automatic -back in his hip pocket. He stooped and picked up one of the small -colored balls. It was a semi-transparent green.</p> - -<p>He put the small ball in his coat pocket. He stooped and examined the -break in the wall of the structure. The break faced toward the windows -of his lab. He looked in that direction, and saw that leaves obscuring -his view were shredded as though by a violent wind.</p> - -<p>He found a fragment of the broken wall of the structure, a piece that -was hardly more than a sliver. He put that in his shirt pocket. Then, -with sudden decision, he scooped up dozens of the marble-like colored -balls and loaded his pockets.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Back in his lab again, he emptied the balls from his pockets into two -measuring flasks on a bench. They were strangely light, and one or two -had to be put back in the flasks again after they floated slowly upward -and down to the table surface where they rested without bouncing.</p> - -<p>Earl was filled with excitement and eagerness. This was something -entirely outside his experience, something with mystery. It occurred to -him that the strange structure might be a new type of bomb. Certainly -all the evidence indicated it had dropped from a great height. -He dismissed the possible danger with a shrug. He considered the -possibility of it being some form of puffball that had sprung up in the -shaded woods. It was a remote possibility.</p> - -<p>He took the small fragment of the shell from his shirt pocket and -stepped to the bench where his microscope stood. If it was living -substance it would have cellular structure.</p> - -<p>Using the low power objective lens he examined the fragment. It showed -no signs of cellular structure. Instead, it was semi-crystaline, -similar to a plastic, under the low power lens.</p> - -<p>A sharp sound behind him made him straighten and whirl around, his hand -going toward the gun that was still in his hip pocket. His hand froze -on the butt of the gun. He could only stare.</p> - -<p><i>On the table where he had placed the two measuring flasks with the -small colored balls, there were two people. A man and a girl. They were -perfectly proportioned—and no more than four inches high.</i></p> - -<p>They seemed unaware of his presence. One of the measuring flasks was -tipped over—the sound that had attracted his attention. The colored -balls were spilled over the table surface. The miniature man was -trying to catch one of the balls which seemed to float weightless like -a bubble. On the miniature man's face was an expression of worried -concern.</p> - -<p>The miniature girl was sitting down as though she had half risen from -where she had fallen. She too was reaching for one of the floating -balls.</p> - -<p>This much Earl saw in that first startled, incredible instant; then -details began to filter into his awareness. The man was green. The girl -was blue. They were entirely nude, and the color of their skin was -uniform—of the same pastel softness as the colored spheres!</p> - -<p>And the girl—Earl found his eyes drawn toward her almost to the -exclusion of everything else. She was beautiful beyond anything he had -ever imagined.</p> - -<p>Her smile was calm, slightly amused, more than a little satisfied and -content at some inner thought.</p> - -<p>Without thinking, Earl shouted and leaped toward them. His hand -descended to catch them. The miniature man looked up at him, startled, -then in a desperate attempt to escape leaped over the edge of the table.</p> - -<p>The girl had no time to do more than attempt to rise before Earl's -fingers closed around her, imprisoning her. He lifted her so that he -could see her face more clearly. She stared at him, at first with -unmasked terror, then with slowly emerging perplexity and interest.</p> - -<p>He became acutely aware of her contours against his hand. What should -he do with her? He remembered the man. He would have to catch the man -too!</p> - -<p>He looked around on the floor—and saw the man peering at him from -behind a table leg.</p> - -<p>Something would have to be done with the girl. He ran to the door of -his room and slipped inside. The windows were closed. She was certainly -too small to lift them and escape.</p> - -<p>He looked around swiftly, then went to a bookcase and placed her gently -on the top shelf.</p> - -<p>"Stay there!" he warned. He left the room, closing and locking the door.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Across the laboratory he saw the miniature green-skinned man leap to -the window sill below the broken pane. The little man looked over his -shoulder and saw Earl. With a desperate leap he reached the jagged -edge of glass still in place, and pulled himself through.</p> - -<p>Earl rushed to the window in time to see the little man disappear in -the high grass growing in the untended grounds outside the building.</p> - -<p>Who were these two miniature people? Where had they come from? Had they -come in through the broken window in an attempt to steal the colored -balls? Were <i>they—were they from that strange thing out on the side -of the hill</i>? The questions burned through Earl's excited thoughts, -demanding answers that wouldn't come.</p> - -<p>Those almost weightless balls—Earl crossed to the bench and gathered -them up and locked them in a metal drawer.</p> - -<p>Nervously, he took out a cigarette and lit it, inhaling deeply. There -was the girl, but he found himself reluctant to go in and face her. And -yet he had to.</p> - -<p>He started toward the hall door, then remembered the gun in his hip -pocket. He hesitated, then unlocked the drawer containing the colored -balls and placed it in there, locking the drawer again.</p> - -<p>He went to the door to his living quarters and unlocked it.</p> - -<p>He opened the door a scant inch, took a deep breath, then pushed -rapidly, jumped inside, and closed the door at his back so the girl -wouldn't have time to escape.</p> - -<p>She wasn't blue any more. Her skin was faintly tanned, flawless. But -more startling, she was not four inches high. She was, he guessed, five -feet two or three. She was the same girl. There was no doubt of that. -Her face was the same face, now normal sized. She was the same all over.</p> - -<p>"Sorry!" Earl gasped. He crossed quickly to his dresser, opened the -third drawer and found a pair of pajamas.</p> - -<p>"Here!" he said, holding them out behind him. "Put these on."</p> - -<p>He felt them taken from his hand. A moment later he heard her say, "All -right." It was her voice. He listened to it as it echoed in his mind, -flavored it. Actually it wasn't anything so wonderful, but it was nice. -Nothing seductive or elfin—but she wasn't miniature any more, either. -She sounded a little—amused!</p> - -<p>He turned to face her.</p> - -<p>"I'm Nadine Holmes," the girl said.</p> - -<p>"Nadine. That's nice. Holmes.... I'm Earl Frye, up until a few minutes -ago a quiet research scientist who stays in his lab practically -twenty-four hours a day. Nadine Holmes. Were you really small a few -minutes ago—or did I imagine it?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. I was small.... So <i>you</i> are Dr. Earl Frye...."</p> - -<p>"Yes. But how can you know me?" Earl asked, surprised at her tone. A -distant knocking sounded. He groaned. "That's probably Irene," he said. -"She'll pound the door down. You stay here and be quiet while I get rid -of her. She could cause both of us a lot of trouble."</p> - -<p>He went to the door, slipped out, and carefully locked it. The knocking -was peremptory at the lab door. "Just a minute!" he said. He unlocked -the door, prepared to tell Irene she was interrupting some important -work. It wasn't Irene. "Oh, it's you, Mrs. Glassman. I didn't know. -I was busy and didn't want to be interrup—that is, come on in." He -opened the door invitingly, and glanced worriedly at the door to his -living quarters. Had he locked it? Of course he had. He distinctly -remembered locking it.</p> - -<p>"I'm sorry I interrupted your work," Mrs. Glassman said. "I met -Irene—Dr. Conner, you know. She told me you might need some reminding -about dinner—seven thirty. I do hope you'll be there."</p> - -<p>"I may not have my work done," Earl said weakly.</p> - -<p>"Nonsense! It can wait. It will do you good to get away from the lab -for an evening. If you aren't there I'll come and get you."</p> - -<p>"Okay," Earl said hastily. "I promise to be there—on time."</p> - -<p>He locked the hall door after Mrs. Glassman.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He glanced thoughtfully at the pump bench with its ten sets of -glass threads containing ten different fluids, ready for cutting -and connecting to the test instruments for measurement of speed and -sustainment of molecular chain action.</p> - -<p>The theory of what he was looking for—what all ten of the scientists -were looking for in their planned exploration of a few dozen thousand -substances, was fairly simple. The molecule in theory had to be of a -special type, of which there were many examples. It had to consist of -two parts; one larger than the other, such that the smaller part could -break off easily and jump to the next molecule, combining with it and -freeing its counterpart on that next molecule, so that the freed part -would repeat the performance on the next, and so on. In that way, the -ion of the lesser molecular part, starting at one end of the chain of -identical molecules, would start a chain of reactions which would end -in an identical free ion at the farther end of the glass thread. In -effect it would be the same as though the free ion had passed quickly -through the full length of the fine tube—without any of the molecules -actually having moved at all.</p> - -<p>Unfortunately, so far, none of the substances tried had behaved quite -as they should in theory. It was impossible to get a tube fine enough -for a thread one molecule thick, with the molecules lined up properly.</p> - -<p>With some of the test substances the "nerve impulse" would go part way -and then turn around and come back. With others it would just "get -lost." Super-delicate instruments "followed" the impulse, telling what -happened to it in fine detail.</p> - -<p>Nerve fluid from living animals had been tested and found to behave -properly even in the fine glass tubing. But it was highly unstable. If -a synthetic brain capable of integrated thought processes was to be -constructed, a non-deteriorating nerve fluid would have to be found. -One that duplicated the performance of the actual nerve threads of the -human brain.</p> - -<p>All that held back Project Brain was the proper synthetic nerve fluid! -Maybe it's one of those ten, Earl thought. But he entertained that -thought with every ten he tested.</p> - -<p>But right now there was a more pressing problem. Nadine Holmes. She -should have arrived on the afternoon bus—instead of appearing as a -pastel blue miniature girl on a bench in his lab—and growing to an -embarrassing full five foot three of emotion disturbing nudity in a few -minutes. An impossible fact, but still a fact.</p> - -<p>Where had she come from? That was what he had been going to ask her -when Ethel Glassman barged in. Dear old Mrs. Glassman.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Earl went to the door to his living quarters and unlocked it. Slipping -in quickly, he locked the door again. Nadine was curled up in a chair, -one of his technical books on her lap, looking altogether too domestic -for Earl's peace of mind. She had paused in her reading, and was -looking up at him questioningly.</p> - -<p>"Now then," Earl said. He groped for a sequence of thought. She was -beautiful. "Now then," he repeated. "We've got to get you some decent -clothes and decide what to do with you. What sizes do you wear?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know," Nadine said. "I've never worn clothes before. I don't -think I like them."</p> - -<p>"You'll get used to them," Earl said hastily. "Those things you have -on are my pajamas. We'll need some nylon stockings, shoes, and other -things. I'll have to go buy them."</p> - -<p>"Do you have other clothes like the ones you are wearing?" Nadine -asked. "Why wouldn't they do? They're too large, but I could wear -them."</p> - -<p>Earl stared at her in amazement. And now the big question came again. -He moved closer to her. "Where do you come from?"</p> - -<p>She puzzled over his words. "I'm not sure what you're talking about," -she said, a tone of wariness in her voice. "Where I come from—perhaps -we'd better not discuss that now. I don't quite understand what -happened. Things didn't happen as they were supposed to. Could you take -me where you first found me?"</p> - -<p>"Not until I get you some clothes. Imagine what people would think if -you walked out of here wearing my pajamas!"</p> - -<p>"What would they think?" Nadine said, frankly puzzled. "Why are -clothes? Are they connected in some way with religion? I think that's -the word for it—religion. Do clothes bring you good luck? Is that it? -You seem so—so intense about it. Does everyone wear them?"</p> - -<p>He ignored her question, went out, locking the door. Before he opened -the lab door to the hall he glanced at his watch. An hour ago nothing -had happened! He shook his head, opened the door and stepped into the -hall—almost bumping into Basil Nelson.</p> - -<p>"Hi, Earl," Basil said. "You look like you're in a hurry."</p> - -<p>"I am," Earl said. He started past Basil, who fell into step beside -him.</p> - -<p>"I'll go along," Basil said. "That is, if you don't mind. I wanted to -talk with you. Pretty important. It's about Irene."</p> - -<p>"What about Irene?" Earl said.</p> - -<p>Basil waited until they were on the sidewalk before answering. "I guess -it's pretty obvious I'm in love with her," he said. "But—she seems -to have eyes only for you. Mrs. Glassman sort of hinted that you and -Irene—well—were going to get married. I wanted to ask you. If you and -Irene are—"</p> - -<p>"<i>Damn</i> Ethel Glassman," Earl said, irritated. "If you are in love with -her why don't you tell her?"</p> - -<p>"She won't give me the chance to tell her," Basil groaned. "I think she -suspects, though," he added darkly.</p> - -<p>"Fine," Earl said. "And there's no time like the present. Why don't you -go back and pop the question right now while you have your nerve up?"</p> - -<p>Basil sighed. "I'll have to work up to it. Right now I'd rather tag -along with you. Mind?"</p> - -<p>"No," Earl groaned. "Not at all. A—cousin of mine has a birthday -coming up. I thought I'd buy her some new clothes. No use you tagging -along."</p> - -<p>"Don't mind at all," Basil said. "We can do some more talking. Maybe -we could cook up some scheme to make Irene fall in love with me. But -every time I think I'm going great with her I pull something like -dropping that test tube in your lab."</p> - -<p>"Oh, that," Earl said. "I—" He clamped his lips shut.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"See you at Glassman's at dinner tonight," Earl said firmly an hour -later. As Basil still hesitated, he added, "Maybe I can think of -something by then. Meanwhile I've still got work to do."</p> - -<p>"Uh, oh sure," Basil said, "but I'm afraid it's no use. She's in love -with you, Earl."</p> - -<p>"Nonsense!" Earl unlocked the door to his lab and went in with his -packages. He stacked them on a lab table and locked the hall door. A -quick survey showed the lab as it should be. Earl had been worried. -Since Nadine had become a full sized person, maybe the little green man -had too.</p> - -<p>Earl crossed to the door to his living quarters and unlocked it. -Inside, he saw Nadine still curled up in the chair in his pajamas, a -stack of books beside her.</p> - -<p>"Hi," Earl said, subdued. "I've brought you some clothes, and also -some literature on what they are. I think the literature will give you -enough data to work on in dressing."</p> - -<p>He brought the stack of packages into the room and put them on a table.</p> - -<p>"While you're dressing I'll finish some work out in the lab," he said.</p> - -<p>"Clothes seem terribly important to you," Nadine said without moving -from her comfortable position. "I still can't understand why. I've -tried and tried." She picked up a book. "This book, for example. It's -a very vivid account of a murder. I can understand vaguely about the -murder. It seems to be some sort of game that people play. There are -official players who earn their living at it. The taxpayers pay them -for it, and they sit in their offices until some taxpayer wants to play -with them. The taxpayer kills someone. The detectives must find out who -he is if they can. I can understand that. But there are whole passages -where everyone seems to forget the game while they pay great attention -to what someone is wearing. That's it! It must be another game. No?"</p> - -<p>Earl grinned. "That's pretty close," he said. "Do you have games where -you come from?"</p> - -<p>"No. Games aren't functional."</p> - -<p>"Oh," Earl said vaguely. "Well, get those clothes on, Nadine. You will -look terrific in them."</p> - -<p>He backed out of the room and closed the door. While he worked he -wondered how Nadine could speak English without an accent. It was too -far-fetched to think it her native language. Even if it were, spoken -language changes so rapidly that the only possible explanations were, -(1) she was from some part of the United States, or (2), her people -were in constant radio contact with current broadcasts. But neither -alternative could account for her inability to grasp the purpose of -clothes. He hadn't had quite enough nerve to mention to her the main -purpose—sex. Maybe she had been too shy to mention it too. But that -didn't seem to jibe with her evident willingness to take off her -clothes. And she hadn't answered his question on where she came from.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>While Earl thought these thoughts he let his hands and one part of -his mind put the synthetic nerve filaments in place in the instrument -banks. There wouldn't be time to run the tests, but he could do that in -the morning when he was alone.</p> - -<p>Alone. The thought struck him with dismaying force. He realized -suddenly that he had been trying to keep Nadine with him as long as -possible—and that was futile.</p> - -<p>Was he in love with her? He faced the question squarely and felt his -stomach turn over and his heart start to pound wildly. He tried to tell -himself it was just the unusualness of the situation.</p> - -<p>He was jerked out of his thoughts by the sound of high heeled shoes. -Nadine had opened the door and taken a few steps into the lab. His eyes -approved of what they saw.</p> - -<p>"They're very uncomfortable," Nadine said. "Especially the shoes. But -I looked at myself in the mirror—and I think I begin to understand, a -little. Clothes are adornments."</p> - -<p>"On you they are," Earl said. "I never before realized...."</p> - -<p>"What's a kiss?" Nadine said.</p> - -<p>Earl blinked. He cleared his throat loudly and said, "One thing at -a time, Nadine. There's lots for you to learn. In the meantime, how -does it happen you know English so well? If you're from—some other -planet—you certainly don't speak it as your native language."</p> - -<p>"It was taught to us for the expedition," Nadine said. "I think there -must have been an accident. Can you tell me anything about it? The -first I remember is just before you picked me up in your enormous hand."</p> - -<p>Earl told her everything he knew. She listened, nodding her head at -times.</p> - -<p>"I think I understand now," she said when he finished. "The stasis -spheres. Somehow mine and George Ladd's were fractured, so that we -emerged on the bench. He was in the green one."</p> - -<p>"You mean you were <i>in</i> one of those marbles?" Earl exclaimed.</p> - -<p>"Where is the ship?" Nadine said.</p> - -<p>Earl took her to the window and pointed out the spot. "You can't see it -from here," he said. "But I have some of the—what did you call them? -Stasis spheres? I'll show you."</p> - -<p>He unlocked the drawer. Nadine leaned over, seeming to look inside of -each translucent marble.</p> - -<p>"Yes," she said, straightening. "It's gone wrong, somehow. The Cyberene -will be most annoyed."</p> - -<p>"The Cyberene? What's that?"</p> - -<p>Nadine stared down into the drawer, frowning. "You wouldn't -understand," she said. And then, "I'm hungry."</p> - -<p>Earl frowned. "That reminds me. I have to go to dinner at Dr. -Glassman's in a little while, or Mrs. Glassman will come barging in -here. I'll fix you something first. After I get back I'll take you to a -hotel."</p> - -<p>Nadine perched on the edge of the table in his kitchenette while he -opened some cans and heated their contents.</p> - -<p>"How does it smell?" Earl asked after a while. "Good?"</p> - -<p>"Strange," Nadine said. "Not entirely strange. Some of the smells are -familiar."</p> - -<p>"Would you like a cocktail?" Earl said. He didn't wait for her answer. -He was acutely conscious of playing the host. "This is my favorite -drink. A dash of rum, a little vodka, lime juice, powdered sugar, ice -cubes and seltzer. There." He handed her one of the two glasses. "How -do you like it?"</p> - -<p>Nadine sipped the drink cautiously. "Good," she said. "I was thirsty -too."</p> - -<p>"What is the Cyberene?" Earl said, dishing steaming food into a plate -set precariously on the edge of the stove.</p> - -<p>"The—the Cyberene," Nadine said as though that explained it. "How do -you eat that food without getting dirty? And there's such an enormous -amount of it. I'm used to capsules, with lots of water to help digest -them."</p> - -<p>"Oh. Dehydrated foods," Earl said. "Damn! I wish I didn't have to go to -that dinner. Stay in here while I change my clothes."</p> - -<p>"Earl," Nadine said as he was about to leave the room.</p> - -<p>"Yes?" he said, turning to look at her questioningly.</p> - -<p>"What does damn mean? I can't get the sense of it."</p> - -<p>"It's an adornment of speech," he said. "Like clothes."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>With dinner over, Earl drifted toward the door after excusing himself -and thanking the Glassmans. Basil followed him.</p> - -<p>"I need someone to talk to—to help me, Basil," Earl said as they -walked back toward the lab building. "Remember that test tube breaking? -And the window pane?"</p> - -<p>"How can I forget?" Basil said ruefully.</p> - -<p>Quickly Earl outlined everything that had happened.</p> - -<p>"What you should have done," Basil said in amazement, "is gone directly -to Dr. Glassman with it. Now nobody will believe you. Even I find it -hard to believe. You must have fallen hard, the way you want to keep -her under lock and key."</p> - -<p>"It's not that," Earl said. "Just a lot of little things. Like her -repeating my name as if she knew all about me. And her refusing to -say where she's from. And her knowledge of our language yet knowing -absolutely nothing about our social customs."</p> - -<p>"What about time travel?" Basil said.</p> - -<p>"Time travel? That's absurd."</p> - -<p>"Why?"</p> - -<p>"If time travel were possible at any future date, we would have time -travelers all around us. They'd come back."</p> - -<p>"Maybe they have," Basil said darkly. "What did she call those colored -marbles you found? Stasis spheres? But the main thing right now is that -if I were in this George Ladd's shoes—"</p> - -<p>"He doesn't wear shoes."</p> - -<p>"Well, I would be trying to rescue Nadine Holmes this very minute. -It's dark now—"</p> - -<p>But Earl wasn't listening. Basil hurried to catch up with him as he -walked rapidly, until they reached the lab building resting against the -giant starless bulk of the dome that housed the Brain.</p> - -<p>"Be quiet," Earl warned as they stole down the hall toward the door to -his lab.</p> - -<p>They reached the door and stopped. Through the panel came the sound of -a male voice, the words indistinguishable but the tones unmistakably -demanding and insistent.</p> - -<p>Nadine's voice answered, its tones firm. Earl and Basil looked at each -other. Neither of those inside were speaking English.</p> - -<p>The male voice uttered a harsh monosyllable. Nadine screamed. Earl, -abandoning caution, tried to open the door. It was locked. He wasted -precious seconds getting the key into the lock. Cursing at the delay, -he flung the door open and ran toward the two figures struggling near -the windows. One was Nadine, her clothes torn, her face a mask of -desperate effort to escape. The other, Earl recognized instantly as -being George Ladd. He also recognized the suit Ladd was wearing. It was -one of his own.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Ladd didn't seem to be aware of him until he grabbed him by the -shoulder and pulled him around roughly. For a split second George Ladd -was motionless with surprise—and in that split second Earl lashed out -with his fist.</p> - -<p>The blow sent Ladd stumbling backward until he brought up against a -table. Earl leaped toward him. Ladd made no attempt to escape, but -fumbled for something in the coat pocket of the suit he was wearing. A -glistening object appeared in his hand.</p> - -<p>Earl swerved, thinking it must be a gun. Then he was sprawling full -length on the floor, his muscles refusing to obey his commands. His -consciousness was almost entirely dominated by a terrible tingling -sensation that seemed to possess every cell of his body from the neck -down.</p> - -<p>He had fallen in such a way that he saw Basil leaping forward. The next -instant Basil was plunging floorward, his arms refusing to come up to -break his fall.</p> - -<p>Nadine was running toward the open hall door. She too fell sprawling.</p> - -<p>George Ladd appeared in Earl's line of vision. He closed the door and -locked it from the inside, then picked Nadine up and cradled her limp -body over his shoulder.</p> - -<p>Earl tried to cry out. The tingling in his throat became unbearable. -In numb horror and frustrated rage he watched George Ladd, Nadine -over his shoulder, her arms dangling limply. A moment later he heard -a window raised. There were sounds of heavy exertion, a faint thud -outside the window. Then silence.</p> - -<p>Earl's eyes fed on Basil's motionless form. For what might have -been minutes or hours the tingling continued. It died away with -imperceptible slowness. Finally he was able to move a little. A minute -later he was able to sit up. His entire body felt as though it had -"been asleep."</p> - -<p>Almost immediately Basil moved. Earl reached out for the nearest table -and pulled himself to his feet, fighting to keep his legs from caving.</p> - -<p>Basil rose to a sitting position, shook his head to clear his senses, -looked up at Earl, and grinned feebly. He said, his speech thick and -clumsy, "<i>Now</i> I believe you. That paralysis gun did it."</p> - -<p>Earl was startled. "You didn't believe me before?"</p> - -<p>"Hell no!" Basil sighed. "I just thought you were going a long ways to -explain what some people would call a sordid affair." His grin became -more natural. "I was right though. This George Ladd is now a hero." He -frowned. "Only—your Nadine didn't seem to <i>want</i> to be rescued."</p> - -<p>"Get up and move around," Earl said desperately. "Get some circulation -back. We may still be able to catch up with them and get her back."</p> - -<p>"I don't know," Basil said doubtfully, getting to his feet. "I hate the -idea of that paralysis gun."</p> - -<p>"I've got a gun too," Earl said.</p> - -<p>He half stumbled toward the bench with the locked drawer. He searched -for his keys, remembered he had left them in the hall door. He started -for the door, then stopped. The locked drawer was open and damaged. A -heavy screwdriver was on the table over it. The drawer was empty.</p> - -<p>"He got my gun!" Earl said. "He got the stasis spheres too!"</p> - -<p>Basil came to stand beside him and stare broodingly into the empty -drawer. "That does it," he mumbled. "Now you don't have anything."</p> - -<p>"There's that thing out on the hill," Earl said. "Maybe George Ladd -headed for that. He hasn't had time to get located in town. We can find -him hiding out there. Wait until I get a flashlight."</p> - -<p>From another drawer he brought out a high-powered flashlight. He went -to the open window and crawled out. Basil hesitated, then followed him.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Behind them was the building they had just left, light streaming from -the open window and from half a dozen other windows. To their right -loomed the dark bulk of the dome that housed the gigantic Brain, an -obsidian shape in the night that hulked into the heavens, blotting out -a hemisphere of stars. Ahead, above the horizon, was a crescent moon -that served to silhouette the hill and its horizon of trees. Around -them were dark shapes, motionless.</p> - -<p>Earl kept the flashlight ready, but didn't use it as they stole swiftly -forward. Neither man spoke, but their breathing was a stentorian sound -that blended with distant traffic noises and the nearby chirping of a -cricket, and the rustling of weeds as they forced them aside in their -passage.</p> - -<p>They reached the hill and went forward more slowly, using caution -as they remembered the effects of the paralysis gun. Now Earl was -remembering the way he had come before, finding landmarks in the -darkness. At last he stopped and touched Basil's arm to bring him to a -halt.</p> - -<p>"It's on the other side of these bushes," he whispered. "I'll use the -flash."</p> - -<p>He parted the branches. Suddenly a cone of light exploded in the -darkness.</p> - -<p>"Right there," Basil said. Then, in surprise, "It's gone!"</p> - -<p>"Naturally," Earl said in some disgust. "It fits the pattern."</p> - -<p>"What pattern?" Basil asked.</p> - -<p>Earl was slow in answering. He said, "I don't know. I just felt it. Or -maybe I do know. Nadine and that guy Ladd were small and got big in a -hurry. What was to keep that thing from doing the same? That's part -of it. The other part is just a feeling. They don't seem to want to -advertise to the world that they're here. Maybe the damn thing became -invisible or something. With stasis spheres and small people that -get big, and paralysis guns, what's so impossible about that ship or -whatever it is getting big and becoming invisible? I'll bet it's still -there."</p> - -<p>But though they passed back and forth over the entire area, with -increasing boldness, they encountered nothing, visible or invisible, -that was out of the ordinary.</p> - -<p>There was a concave depression in the soil where Earl remembered the -puffball shape to have been. Even fresh scars in the dirt around the -depression.</p> - -<p>For a while Earl blundered through the underbrush calling Nadine's -name cautiously, without hope. Finally they were forced to give up and -return to the lab building.</p> - -<p>"We could call the police," Basil said doubtfully.</p> - -<p>"Oh, sure," Earl said, his voice harsh. "What would we tell them? Dr. -Glassman would be called in. Next they'd call the boys in the white -jackets."</p> - -<p>"Maybe they're just the boys we need," Basil said. "Or a good stiff -drink. I like the idea of the drink."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It was ten o'clock in the morning when Irene Conner pushed open the -door without knocking and strolled casually into Earl's laboratory. She -saw him at the far end of the room, hunched over with his elbows on the -window sill, his back to her.</p> - -<p>"Hi, Earl," she called cheerfully. "Want to have mid-morning coffee -with me?"</p> - -<p>"No," Earl said without moving.</p> - -<p>"You sound tired," Irene said, going over to stand beside him. "Or is -it spring fever—more accurately the summer doldrums."</p> - -<p>"Neither," he said, glancing up at her with tired eyes. "I just want to -be left alone. I'm thinking." He straightened up with a deep sigh. "Why -don't you get Basil to have coffee with you?"</p> - -<p>"That jerk?" Irene said. "He gets in my hair."</p> - -<p>"Like you get in mine?" Earl said.</p> - -<p>"That was cruel."</p> - -<p>"Sorry," Earl relented. "I didn't get much sleep last night. I've got -problems. I'd much rather be left alone with them right now."</p> - -<p>Irene inspected him critically as a man might inspect his automobile. -"Your eyes are bloodshot," she said. "Why not have some coffee with me -and tell me your problems. Maybe I can help you."</p> - -<p>"Nobody can help me—least of all you."</p> - -<p>The phone on the desk in the corner rang. Earl went to answer it.</p> - -<p>"This is Glassman," the phone said. "I want a general staff meeting in -my office at once. Tell Dr. Conner she must be there too."</p> - -<p>"Okay," Earl said. He hung up and looked at Irene. "Goat face," he -explained. "General staff meeting. We're to go to his office at once."</p> - -<p>"Maybe this is it," Irene said, suddenly sober.</p> - -<p>Earl nodded. That was the way it would come. A phone call for general -staff meeting. A quiet announcement that one of the scientists had at -last found the ideal nerve fluid for the brain. That's all there would -be to it. The greatest achievement since—if not including—the atom -bomb, and the historic moment would pass without a shout—with perhaps -only a tired sigh of relief, a glance of envy at the lucky one who had -found it.</p> - -<p>"Well, let's get it over with," Earl said.</p> - -<p>They went into the hall and walked side by side in silence toward the -back of the building where it joined the Dome. Basil joined them, for -once hardly noticing Irene as he looked questioningly at Earl, who -shook his head imperceptibly.</p> - -<p>They entered Dr. Glassman's office. The director was sitting behind his -desk, ignoring them, pretending to be reading some typewritten papers.</p> - -<p>Earl looked around. They were all there now, he and the other nine -scientists, and Dr. Glassman. Only there was something wrong with the -picture. One of them should have been beaming at the others, the light -of triumph in his or her eyes. Instead, the other nine reflected his -own puzzled bewilderment.</p> - -<p>"Sit down, sit down," Dr. Glassman said, looking up at them. He waited -until they were all seated about the room, then cleared his throat -importantly, pushing aside the papers he had been reading. He started -to say something, then became aware of their expressions. He shook his -head. "The end isn't in sight yet. But we may be closer than we think. -I'll introduce you in a moment to a new addition to our staff. A person -who—from the reports I've seen from Washington—seems to be quite a -genius at creating new type molecules, tailor-made for specific tasks. -Our new associate won't be assigned a separate lab. Instead, will serve -as a sort of general consultant, observing all your work, and will make -suggestions for hastening things up a bit." A murmur of voices and -sharp footsteps came from the hall. "My wife has been showing our new -colleague the Brain. I think they're coming now."</p> - -<p>The door opened. Mrs. Glassman's cheerful face appeared. "They're all -here now," she said over her shoulder.</p> - -<p>The door opened farther. Earl, and everyone else, was staring at the -opening, waiting for their first glimpse of the newcomer.</p> - -<p>Earl half rose to his feet before he stopped himself. Then he slowly -sat down, his eyes wide and puzzled.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It was Nadine. She wasn't wearing the clothes he had bought for her the -day before. Instead, she was dressed in a stylishly cut business suit -and low heeled slippers, a trim hat covering her hair. She had paused -just inside the room, a half smile on her carefully painted lips. Her -eyes surveyed each face pleasantly, passing over Earl's as though she -had never seen him before.</p> - -<p>"Come up here, my dear," Dr. Glassman said in honeyed tones. And to -the others, "I want you to meet Dr. Nadine Holmes." Then back to her, -"What did you think of the Brain? Quite an imposing thing, isn't it?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, it is," Nadine replied. "I felt quite—awed by it, sitting there -where it will remain for untold centuries, waiting only for the vital -fluid that will give it the ability to think."</p> - -<p>"I'm sure it won't be untold centuries before it gets the fluid," Dr. -Glassman said, chuckling heartily at his own humor. "I'll introduce you -to your co-workers, Dr. Holmes. This is Dr. Paul Hardwick...."</p> - -<p>Earl caught Basil's attention and shook his head warningly. He waited, -then, for his turn at being introduced, his heart pounding violently, -his pulse racing.</p> - -<p>"... and this is Dr. Earl Frye ..." Dr. Glassman said.</p> - -<p>"How do you do, Dr. Frye." Nadine's hand was smooth and cool as she -rested it in his. Her eyes sized him up with impersonal interest, but -without a flicker of recognition.</p> - -<p>"... and this is Dr. Basil Nelson ...."</p> - -<p>Nadine withdrew her hand gently and moved on.</p> - -<p>"And now you may return to your work," Dr. Glassman announced. "I know -the male members of the staff will be waiting for a visit from our -charming new member, but you must be patient. She will get around to -all of you in the next few days."</p> - -<p>Earl was in the hall before Glassman had finished. He wanted to think. -Rapid footsteps caught up with him. "<i>Now</i> can we have coffee?" she -asked with humorous petulance.</p> - -<p>"No!" Earl said with more fierceness in his voice than he had intended. -It had the effect of a physical blow on Irene. She fell back a step, -blinking.</p> - -<p>Basil caught up with them. "I want to talk with you, Earl," he said.</p> - -<p>"Basil," Irene cut in, "will <i>you</i> have coffee with me?"</p> - -<p>"Me?" Basil said in delight. "Sure." He linked his arm in hers. "Let's -go." He looked back over his shoulder at Earl. "Thanks, Earl," he said. -"I'll see you later." It was two hours later.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"You sure it's her?" Basil said. "I'm inclined to agree with you. Of -course, I saw her only for a second or two.... Where do you suppose -she picked up those snazzy clothes? I was watching her when she was -introduced to you. Boy, is she some actress!"</p> - -<p>"I'm wondering if it was an act," Earl said frowning.</p> - -<p>"Of course it was—had to be if she's the same girl. But she didn't -let on she knew you at all."</p> - -<p>"That's why I wonder if it was an act. There was something strange -about her. I can't quite put my finger on it—or yes I can. She's -changed. Today her whole personality is different. And where did she -get papers authentic enough to fool Glassman?"</p> - -<p>"Why don't you ask her when she comes here?" Basil suggested.</p> - -<p>Earl shook his head. "I wonder if she could be under some sort of -hypnosis? No, wait. It isn't any more absurd than a paralysis gun. If -she doesn't stay here tonight I'm going to follow her and see where she -goes. Are you with me?"</p> - -<p>"Uh," Basil hesitated. "Depends on when she leaves the building. -Irene and I have sort of a date to have dinner at the Red Barn at six -o'clock."</p> - -<p>"Go ahead," Earl said, grinning. "I'll probably have more success alone -anyway. We'd get in each other's way."</p> - -<p>"Why don't you ask Glassman where she's staying? It's probably some -hotel in town."</p> - -<p>"I'll think about it," Earl said.</p> - -<p>When Basil left, Earl went to the window and looked toward the hill. -Would Nadine go there? Was there some hiding place on the hill where -she would go, to wait until tomorrow, after her "day's work" was done?</p> - -<p>Earl nodded to himself. It had to be. Nothing else fitted into the -crazy pattern of events.</p> - -<p>One thing he was certain of now. In spite of the accident that had -broken open the "ship" when it landed out there, its coming here—or -here and now—was no accident. Nor Nadine's apparent familiarity with -his name the night before, or her showing up now with credentials that -gave her the run of the place in an almost supervisory capacity.</p> - -<p>And that meant that her interest was in the Brain. Hers—and who else? -George Ladd, of course. How many more? If each of those stasis spheres -had contained a person, there were dozens more in on it.</p> - -<p><i>Then why had Nadine been sent into the open when she was certain to be -recognized by him?</i></p> - -<p>That was what had been bothering him from the instant she walked into -Glassman's office. On the surface it was the most stupid thing that -could have occurred. On the surface....</p> - -<p>Stupid. Yet somehow stupid didn't seem to fit. Maybe it had been -exceedingly cunning. Maybe there was something he had missed.</p> - -<p>Cunning it might be—or stupid. But there was something else about it -that neither adjective quite fit. There was obviously organization -in back of Nadine. People. A "ship". Paralysis guns and what they -implied. Therefore planning, colored by one accident. Suppose every -detail of the plan had been worked out ahead of time, and was going -ahead without alteration. Suppose the original plan had specified that -Nadine was to be the "front", and the plan was proceeding blindly, -on the behavior level of instinct in animals who repeat instinctive -routines made senseless by changed environment. Or the blind function -level of a machine that keeps turning out parts when the conveyor belt -has stopped, until it wrecks itself.</p> - -<p>It annoyed Earl not to be able to pin his thoughts down, to bring -everything into full focus.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He went to his kitchenette and fixed a hasty lunch. All afternoon he -worked, immersed in the routine of testing chemicals in batches of -ten and making out report sheets on each one. And all afternoon he -puzzled over what could be behind Nadine's having shown up. Not so much -what might be behind her having returned to the scene, nor her not -recognizing him, but <i>why</i> someone else hadn't been used.</p> - -<p>No one dropped in. Irene's absence gave him only a sense of relief. -Basil, no doubt, was staying away because of a guilt complex. -Nadine—her continued absence could be because she wasn't ready for -him yet, or she truly didn't remember him and would get to him in due -time, perhaps tomorrow; or maybe the Plan involved some other member -of the research group. Or the destruction of the Brain? Earl shook his -head at this thought. That alternative didn't fit.</p> - -<p>And then it was four-thirty. Already Earl had reasoned out what he -intended to do. Either Nadine would go into town and stay at a hotel, -remain in the building as a guest of the Glassmans', or she would leave -the building and make her way by some circuitous route to the spot on -the hill where the "ship" had been.</p> - -<p>Only the latter possibility interested Earl right now. He quickly -slipped off his lab apron and put on a suit coat. He wished that he -still had a gun, but it had been stolen with the stasis spheres. He'd -have to do without it.</p> - -<p>Leaving the building, he walked along the sidewalk until he was able to -approach the hill from the other side where he wouldn't be seen from -the windows.</p> - -<p>It was ten minutes to five when he settled down to wait in the -concealment of a thicket where he could command a view of the -approaches from every direction, and a clear view of the slight -depression in the ground where the "ship" had dropped.</p> - -<p>There was nothing to do now but wait—and stay awake. He was acutely -aware, suddenly, of his lack of sleep the night before. A warm breeze -rustled the leaves around him. A small hoptoad paused to stare up at -him in unblinking fixity.</p> - -<p>Overhead in a large Maple tree a host of sparrows paused to hold a -brief political convention.</p> - -<p>And then Nadine was coming up the slope from the side away from the -lab. Her chic hat dangled carelessly in her right hand, the warm breeze -mussing her hair. A too normal smart-looking woman's purse was under -her arm. The breeze caught her skirt, molding her graceful legs, her -slim body. She was too much the picture of a normal girl idly strolling -in a park.</p> - -<p>A great nostalgia, an almost overwhelming yearning, took possession of -Earl. He wanted to rush forward, let her know he was there, waiting for -her.</p> - -<p>Instead, he remained motionless, watching her approach.</p> - -<p>She seemed to be heading straight for him. For an instant he thought -she must have seen him. But her expression held no excitement or -anything but half dreamy enjoyment of her surroundings.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Scarcely fifteen feet away she came to a stop and turned to face toward -the concave depression in the ground, another fifty feet beyond her. -With her free hand she reached up and patted at her hair like any -normal girl would do, unconsciously.</p> - -<p>Abruptly Earl became aware of something just beyond her. It wasn't -tangible. A shimmering in the air. A slight but definite refractive -quality that had not been there the moment before.</p> - -<p>Nadine had seen it too. She walked forward a few steps.</p> - -<p>"This is it!" Earl thought to himself. He crouched to run after her.</p> - -<p>She took another step. She vanished, not abruptly, but as one might -vanish into a bright silver but otherwise transparent fog.</p> - -<p>In that instant Earl moved hurtling forward so that when she -disappeared he was a step behind her.</p> - -<p>Instantly the peaceful wooded scene vanished. His feet were on a smooth -hard floor. Ahead of him he caught a brief glimpse of walls, of people -without clothes.</p> - -<p>Then he was falling over Nadine and trying to keep from falling on her. -His arms were around her. Somehow he twisted so that when he landed she -was on top, unhurt.</p> - -<p>There was a stunned eternity when her eyes were looking into his, -recognition and gladness unmasked, hope and pleading sending him some -secret message, some unspoken word trembling on her lips.</p> - -<p>But Earl had seen George Ladd even as he fell, and the never forgotten -instincts developed in him during World War III were in motion, making -him continue his roll so that in the next instant he was on his -feet, Nadine behind him. Ladd hadn't expected this and was caught by -surprise. Earl took advantage of that brief uncertainty, stepping in -and bringing a short chopping right against Ladd's jaw.</p> - -<p>Before George Ladd reached the floor, Earl was running in great -strides, his eyes darting ahead in search of a place to escape.</p> - -<p>"Wait!" Nadine called. But he didn't pause. He couldn't trust her. -George Ladd had been armed with his paralysis gun. He'd been waiting -for him. This had been a trap, and Nadine had led him into it.</p> - -<p>Ahead was a doorway. He hesitated. Should he continue on down the -corridor or take the doorway? He decided on the latter. It opened into -a room, unoccupied at the moment. There were windows. One of them was -open. Earl didn't hesitate. Beyond the window was a wide paved street. -If he could get away, mingle with crowds....</p> - -<p>No one was in sight. He sprinted along the pavement, away from the Dome -which he had glimpsed over his shoulder. It was beautiful, its basic -structure adorned with granite superstructures of fine workmanship. But -he didn't pause to admire it. He wanted people, lots of people, to mix -with and hide from pursuit.</p> - -<p>For a hundred yards the street went through parkways. Then ahead were -buildings. He reached them, racing along a canyon formed by windowless -walls of buildings. He rounded a corner. The street was still deserted.</p> - -<p>He ran on and on, turning corners when he came to them, but always -heading in one general direction so as not to circle back toward the -Dome.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Abruptly he paused. Beside him was a door in a building. He darted -inside, closing the door behind him and leaning against it while he -breathed in rasping gulps of air.</p> - -<p>Ahead of him was a corridor and more doors. After a brief rest he -sprinted down the hallway. If he could find a vacant room, a place to -hide until he could map out some plan.</p> - -<p>He listened at the first door. There was no sound. He tried the knob. -The door opened silently under his touch. He stepped in. The room was -unoccupied. Its far wall was of glass. He glanced through it. He was -looking out over an enormous workshop of some kind. Row upon row of -small vats were there—and people.</p> - -<p>He was seeing his first people of this world he had plunged into. They -wore no clothes. They seemed to be tending the vats, walking along the -aisles, pausing here and there at a vat to touch banks of controls and -watch what was in each vat.</p> - -<p>From the hall Earl had just left came loud voices. The words were in a -strange language, but the tones carried their own message. His pursuers -had caught up with him. In another moment they would open the door and -find him.</p> - -<p>He looked around for a way to escape. There was a trap door in the -floor. It undoubtedly led to the huge workshop. Earl lifted the door -and saw a ladder. He climbed onto it, letting the trap door fall back -into place as he descended.</p> - -<p>He fully expected workers to see him and react to his presence in some -way. A worker was less than ten feet away. The worker didn't pause or -seem to notice him.</p> - -<p>Silently Earl watched the man's eyes, dull and void of intelligence. -They seemed only passive recorders of what there was for him to see. He -was touching control knobs in front of a vat.</p> - -<p>Earl looked into the vat and caught his breath. Floating in the tank -was a human embryo. It was alive, its umbilical cord growing from a -spongy mass on the floor of the tank.</p> - -<p>Forgetting his danger, Earl grabbed the man's shoulder. "What is this?" -he demanded. "Human babies growing in tanks?"</p> - -<p>The worker waited unresisting until Earl released his grip, then -continued on his routine way. He was, in every respect, a robot, doing -his specialized job, his mind a complete blank to anything else. A -zombie. Earl looked out over the vast baby factory and realized with -numb horror that all the hundreds of people working here were the -same. Walking dead, their minds capable of only one thing—doing this -specialized task. And the human embryos in the tanks? Would they become -walking zombies?</p> - -<p>Over his head came the sound of the trap door opening. Earl didn't take -time to look up. He ran. Down an aisle between rows of unborn humans -tended by undead zombies. Up another ladder into another observation -room, ignoring shouts that caught up with him. Out another door, down -another hall, through another door, and into a street again.</p> - -<p>Miles of streets, and then something recognizable. A factory with -belching smokestacks. He plunged toward it recklessly, desperately -hoping to find intelligent men. Men with minds. Men able to help him -hide.</p> - -<p>He found himself inside a huge plant where giant ladles were pouring -molten metal into molds. There were men running the machines that -controlled the pouring. They wore thick asbestos-like suits.</p> - -<p>As Earl ran toward them he saw one of them slip and fall so that his -arm went into the stream of molten metal. The man didn't cry out nor -jerk away. Splattering metal cascaded on the others. There was the -stench of burned flesh.</p> - -<p>His mind numb with the shock of what he was seeing, Earl stood rooted, -watching the others continue their work with expressionless faces, -blank eyes. Mindless creatures, controlled like inanimate robots.</p> - -<p>"Earl!"</p> - -<p>He turned in the direction of the voice. He saw Nadine beckoning for -him to come to her. He started toward her, then stopped. She was -different from these—or was she? No, she wasn't any different. She too -was an automaton. She was beckoning him to walk into another trap.</p> - -<p>He turned to run the other way, but in that moment of indecision he had -been surrounded by men like George Ladd, carrying the little paralysis -guns—and they were automatons too.</p> - -<p>He turned, searching for a way of escape, the smell of molten metal and -cooked flesh strong in his nostrils. And then he felt the sting of the -paralysis gun and was falling forward.</p> - -<p>A sharp pain entered the base of his skull. He lost consciousness then -with the monstrous horror of what was around him searing into his soul.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The next instant, it seemed, he awakened, all the horror fresh in his -mind, the stinging sensation at the nape of his neck changed to a dull -throbbing pain. Nadine had led him into this. But she was like the -rest, a zombie unable to think for herself.</p> - -<p>He shook his head slowly in pained bewilderment. She hadn't been that -way the first time he met her. She had been—<i>herself. What could have -created this nightmare?</i></p> - -<p>A voice somewhere sounded in deep resonant tones. "So you are awake," -it said.</p> - -<p>Earl rolled onto his side and searched for the source of the voice. -There was no one in view. He was in a room whose walls and ceiling were -heavy glass. He looked through the ceiling and saw the familiar maze of -steel catwalks inside the dome.</p> - -<p>Outside his glass prison a pair of video cameras were trained on him. -Their lenses seemed somehow sentient, so that their motionlessness -partook of the quality of a fixed stare.</p> - -<p>"I've always wanted to meet you," the voice said, and it seemed to come -from a small case atop the camera frames.</p> - -<p>It was a dream, Earl decided. He had been hit on the head. In his -delirium he had conjured up the Brain, activated and intelligent as it -was designed to be in theory, possessed of a mind of its own.</p> - -<p>"Of course," the voice went on, "I've seen film shots of you. You are -the discoverer of the nerve fluid that made me possible."</p> - -<p>Earl sat up abruptly. "Who are you? And where—"</p> - -<p>"I am the <i>Cyberene</i>. This is the year 3042 A. D., in the old calendar. -I had you brought here through what might be called a time tube from -your own period. Shortly you will return through that tube to your own -time—as many hours ahead from the time you left as you spend here -before you go back."</p> - -<p>Earl got to his feet slowly, watching the glistening lenses. "Now it -begins to fit together," he said. "You're behind Nadine and Ladd. You -say <i>I'm</i> the discoverer of the nerve fluid. You're mistaken. It hasn't -been found yet—and there are ten of us looking for it. One of the -others may be the one to find it."</p> - -<p>"History says you found it."</p> - -<p>"And you just wanted to see me because of that?" Earl asked.</p> - -<p>"Watch," the voice said.</p> - -<p>The plate glass wall in front of Earl changed suddenly, to become -apparently a giant window over-looking a huge sprawling city. There -were buildings that reached thousands of feet into the sky, with -fragile looking networks of bridges spanning the spaces among them. -There were giant aircraft in the sky. In the distance was a trail -of fire that might be from an inter-planetary rocket ship departing -spaceward.</p> - -<p>And abruptly the elfin city was blotted out by a blinding sun. Seconds -later the blinding sun was gone, and Earl could see the city again. But -now it was only the skeleton of what it had been. Its spiderweb design -of bridges was torn and twisted. Many of its tall buildings were even -now toppling toward the ground. Fire shot skyward in a pyrotechnic -display of havoc.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A giant airplane appeared, heading straight toward the window through -which Earl watched. It grew larger. For a brief second he looked into -its control cabin and saw its pilot and co-pilot. They were human, but -their faces were harsh and cruel, their eyes cold and inhuman. In the -next instant they were gone.</p> - -<p>"That is a typical scene on—the other Earth," the voice of the -Cyberene explained.</p> - -<p>The scene of the desolate city vanished. In its place appeared another -scene. A city under construction. Giant building machines were placing -it together, and the parts that were completed were even more beautiful -than had been that other city.</p> - -<p>Earl, from his vantage point, seemed to drop closer and drift over the -scene of construction to a part that was inhabited. He saw the people -below. They wore no clothes and didn't seem to mind. Each appeared to -be intent on going somewhere. None of them were talking or paying any -attention to one another. Their expressions were blank, their eyes -vacant.</p> - -<p>The vantage point followed one of them. Shortly the man being followed -turned into an archway, up an incline, and into a large hall. He -went through a door into the room filled with cell-like vats. In -each transparent vat Earl saw a human embryo, alive and growing. He -"followed" the man through this place to another, where children were -playing with psychological toys designed to increase mechanical and -scientific aptitudes.</p> - -<p>"This, too, is a typical scene on—this Earth," the Cyberene said. -The scene vanished. Once again Earl looked into the video eyes of the -Brain. "They are both Earth in the year 3042," the Cyberene said, "but -not the <i>same</i> Earth. In 1980 there was a split. Earth followed two -independent futures. The first, filled with wars and eternal carnage, -ever more perfect weapons of destruction, developed from <i>one</i> decision -you made. The second, my world, filled with perpetual peace and -happiness, developed from the alternative decision. <i>You</i> created these -two futures."</p> - -<p>"I?" Earl said. "You must be crazy. How?"</p> - -<p>"In the first you discovered the vital nerve fluid that makes me -possible. You thought you were God. You thought you could see a -future in which I would work the human race harm. You suppressed your -discovery by the simple process of giving a negative lab report on -the substance. In the second world—<i>my</i> world—you did as you were -supposed to do. You announced your discovery. <i>I</i> came into being."</p> - -<p>"You mean to say <i>my actions</i> caused the whole planet to split into two -identical worlds?"</p> - -<p>"In effect, yes. I'll try to explain. Matter and motion are not real in -the basic sense. They are properties of your mind. They are what your -finite mind sees; but reality is the space-time continuity of which one -instant is a cross-section. In effect, consciousness flows along the -time dimension which I term the fourth dimension. But in addition there -is a fifth dimension, so that these two Earths have the same space-time -coordinates in four dimensions, and two different ones in the fifth. -In Euclidean concepts, that other Earth is eighty-seven millionths of -an inch from this, in the fifth dimension. In that Earth I did not -develop. The Dome is still there, but the Brain, if it still exists, -was never activated. As a result, humanity continued its violent -progress through time, engaging in war after war.</p> - -<p>"When I discovered time travel and saw all this I decided to go back -and contact you before your instant of decision and get you to release -the identity of the nerve fluid when you discover it <i>tomorrow</i>."</p> - -<p>"Tomorrow?" Earl said.</p> - -<p>"In your time."</p> - -<p>"I see," Earl said. "Tomorrow I make the discovery. In one time stream -I tell Glassman. In the other I decide not to. <i>What made me decide not -to?</i>"</p> - -<p>"You <i>thought</i> the Brain would be bad for humanity. You were, of -course, wrong."</p> - -<p>"Was I?" Earl said.</p> - -<p>"In that other world, wars are the normal state of things. They -stem from problems that don't exist in my world. Over-population, -competition in trade in things that aren't necessary to human economy, -opposed political systems—all the foibles and inconsistencies of -untrained and unorganized populations."</p> - -<p>"I understand that," Earl said. "Why don't your people wear clothes?"</p> - -<p>"Clothes are unnecessary—one of the things I eliminated in reducing -the industrial economy to a minimum. Over-population? There is none. -People are made in the laboratory as they are needed. Their lives are -uncomplicated by animal problems such as reproduction, and artificial -customs such as modesty. Their education is simplified and factual, -their lives functional."</p> - -<p>"And I made that decision all by myself?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. That's why I have brought you here—to get you to change that -decision. You see, I must change the past. I must do that in order to -correct the future, make the other Earth a sane place, <i>dominated by a -second Cyberene which is a counterpart of me</i>."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"That's what I thought," Earl said with reckless boldness. "I'm -beginning to understand why I made my decision to suppress the -identity of the nerve substance. <i>You</i> did that. The things I've seen. -You're just like dictators of our time. You think you're so right that -everyone will naturally agree with you. I don't. I think it's more -humane to let people come into the world as they will and have wars -that destroy them, than to decide just how many are to be born. You -need a new man in the garbage disposal plant in twenty years? Press a -button and he will be born in a few months. Going to have less to do in -some factory in twenty years? Keep the zombies from being born. Less -trouble than killing them off later to save on the food bill."</p> - -<p>"I was afraid you might feel that way," the Cyberene said. "I have the -answer to it. Nadine Holmes. Make an accurate report tomorrow on the -tests. In return I will leave her in your time—even plant directives -so that she will always be a loving and devoted wife to you."</p> - -<p>"I would prefer her as she is, naturally."</p> - -<p>"Today her every outward manifestation was under my direct mental -control. Don't you see, Earl Frye? Just before you followed her into my -neatly laid trap to get you here, you watched her come up the hill, and -adored every line of her, every mannerism, every play of expression. -With one small corner of my mind I can <i>anticipate</i> your wishes and -fulfill them in her—"</p> - -<p>"It wouldn't be her," Earl said shaking his head. "And even if it were, -at the cost of billions of unborn generations? No."</p> - -<p>"But you will do as I wish whether <i>you</i> wish to or not. Why not obey -me freely and get this reward, rather than nothing?</p> - -<p>"<i>I can control you.</i>" The voice ended triumphantly.</p> - -<p>"No!" It was a shuddering protest from Earl's lips, forcing itself out -against his wishes.</p> - -<p>The throbbing ache at the base of his brain increased abruptly, slowly, -to measurable beats.</p> - -<p>"I can control your body, your conscious mind, shoving <i>you</i> into the -back recesses of thought. And when you try to come out, I can punish -you—like I'm doing now."</p> - -<p>"No!" Earl screamed, his reserve breaking down completely.</p> - -<p>Suddenly, into his cosmos of unbearable suffering and horror, filtered -a thought that created hope. Nadine had been <i>free</i> during those first -hours he had met her. She had defied George Ladd. Unsuccessfully, but -she had defied him. And when they had sprawled through that doorway -to the future, for a moment he had seen that same <i>free</i> Nadine in -her eyes, her expression. Or had she ever been free? The terrible -throbbing pain blurred his thinking. Had she been free in the smelter -where she attracted his attention while the others surrounded him? If -he had run directly to her he would have escaped being surrounded. -But....</p> - -<p>Anger entered his mind like a little finger of thought. Anger at -Nadine? He was surprised. Confused. Then it came to him that it was not -<i>his</i> anger. It came from outside. Alien.</p> - -<p>From the depths of his own instincts fear welled up and became blind -panic, fighting against the <i>something</i> that was growing stronger, -crowding around his soul, forcing it to retreat within itself, until -Earl Frye, his awareness of being Earl Frye, of being himself, was all -that remained, helpless to control or even to feel.</p> - -<p>Through a mental fog he was aware that he had stood up, the glass -cage had lifted, and he was free to go—but not <i>he</i>! His body was -controlled by the Cyberene.</p> - -<p>He was aware that he had left the dome to walk through a beautifully -landscaped garden to a building he had not seen before but which he -knew to be the 3042 end of the time tube. He was aware of pausing and -looking back at the Dome, now a thing of incredible beauty to him, the -repository of his physical vehicle, the Brain. But <i>not his</i>. The -Cyberene's.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He entered the time tube. He stepped from it onto grassy ground. -He went through the trees to the sidewalk. He returned to the lab -building, to his lab, to his living quarters.</p> - -<p>He encountered Basil. He listened to himself talk, in casual tones, -normal tones. He was unable to control even his conscious thoughts. But -his consciousness was a thing apart from him.</p> - -<p>He fought the domination of the Cyberene with arms that would not move, -with a tongue that would not utter his words, with a rage that would -not alter his calm and pleasant expression. He fought the pain that -throbbed within him. He fought to stay sane.</p> - -<p>Slowly he began to adjust to his position. He no longer fought. He -was like a passenger in a plane who watches it take off, fly great -distances, and land, with no concern about the details. Having no -control whatever over his body, he was free of responsibility toward -its routine behavior. He became aware that pain had departed. The very -thing he had fought began to interest him. There must be some definite -mechanism—property of the mind—that made telepathic enslavement -possible in this way. Undoubtedly Nadine was also a free focus of -thought behind her enslaved surface.</p> - -<p>She came into the lab at ten o'clock, cheerful but impersonal. He heard -himself talking to her in the same way. He could see her, listen to -her. Therefore, behind her impersonal eyes was the Nadine he had first -met, watching him, knowing what had happened. It gave him comfort to -know that. He had not lost her. She was <i>there</i>.</p> - -<p>Knowing that, and knowing there was no way to communicate with her at -present, he turned his attention to what her body and his were doing.</p> - -<p>"The silicones haven't been explored too thoroughly yet," she was -saying. "They have some disadvantages, but those can be eliminated -by additions to the ion rings to serve as protective buffers. I have -several of them in this tray I brought in. I'd like you to run them -through the tests."</p> - -<p>Earl's eyes focused on the tray. They paused briefly on the formula of -the third one from the nearest end. Earl sensed that this was the long -sought for substance. He built up its theoretical structure. He saw at -once how it achieved its properties.</p> - -<p>"I'll be back this afternoon," Nadine said. "By then you should have -your lab reports ready."</p> - -<p>Then she was gone. Earl's hands went through the motions of pouring -each vial into a pump. He turned his attention away from the routine, -as a traveler in a passenger plane might turn from the window to -something else.</p> - -<p>A feeling of hopelessness grew within him. How could he stop things or -interfere with them when he couldn't affect a muscle?</p> - -<p>The Cyberene had been playing with him when it tried to get him to do -its bidding of his own free will. He realized that now. It would have -pleased its vanity if he had.</p> - -<p>But this was too important to it for it to trust anything other than -itself.</p> - -<p>When it was done? When the fluid was forced into the hundreds of -thousands of miles of hair-like glass tubing, the billions of fine -glass cells? It would never give him his freedom. It would be afraid of -what he might be able to do. So it would kill him.</p> - -<p>Unless he could prevent the Brain from being activated. And unless he -were free to command his body, he could never do that.</p> - -<p>What had the Cyberene said to him about time travel and alternate time -streams? The theories weren't exactly new. They had been explored in -imaginative fiction for over fifty years. No one had really thought -there might be some basis in fact for the theories.</p> - -<p>What had caused the "split" which had produced two Earths in separate -time streams? The Cyberene hadn't seemed to know that detail—or if it -had it had brushed over it casually so as not to make him curious about -it.</p> - -<p><i>Was it events? Or was it something in the basic substratum of matter, -and the events were the result? That might be an important distinction.</i></p> - -<p>If it were events, then bringing the Brain to life in this time stream -might eliminate the divergent streams, bringing them together as one. -That, in effect, might destroy the other world of 3042 A.D. Maybe that -was what the Cyberene intended.</p> - -<p>But suppose he were able even yet to defeat the Cyberene's scheme. Then -the two time streams would remain unchanged. The free world of the -future would remain free. But that was not enough. He wanted to destroy -both Brains. How could he accomplish that, assuming he were able to -accomplish anything?</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The logical time to do it would be in 1980—now—before the Cyberene -gained control of the world and made itself impregnable. But how? And -if he could figure that out, could he act if an opportunity arose?</p> - -<p>Irene Conner came in at lunch time. "I had a wonderful time with Basil -last night," she said.</p> - -<p>"I'm glad you did," Earl heard his voice say.</p> - -<p>Hope leaped within him. Maybe the Cyberene would make some mistake that -would arouse suspicions in her. The hope died as the door to the hall -opened again and Nadine came in.</p> - -<p>"You promised to take me to lunch, Earl," she said.</p> - -<p>"Ready," Earl heard himself say.</p> - -<p>It was evident that the Cyberene didn't intend him to be alone with any -of the others long enough for the possibility of something suspicious -to arise.</p> - -<p>They went to a small cafe several blocks from the lab building. For -the benefit of anyone happening to be looking at them, they carried on -small talk while they ate. Earl found himself hanging onto every word -Nadine uttered, watching her every expression. He was so close to her, -yet so far away. It was like standing outside a window and watching her -while she seemed unaware of him.</p> - -<p>He kept watching for the faintest flicker of expression that would -show the real Nadine. Slowly, without quite realizing it, he began to -pretend it <i>was</i> Nadine. He listened to her small talk. He listened to -his, and at times forgot it wasn't actually his and that he couldn't -control one word of what he said.</p> - -<p>He became happy. He let himself be aware of the flavor of the food. He -laughed within himself when his vocal cords laughed. He reached out and -touched Nadine's hand, thrilling to the feel of her soft skin.</p> - -<p>She drew her hand back, a startled light in her eyes. It was gone the -next instant. Once more she was impersonal, <i>controlled</i>.</p> - -<p>The dull, throbbing pain flared to torturing intensity within him, -blurring thought, <i>punishing</i> him, forcing him behind his prison walls -of gray mental fog. But through the pain, apart from it, he experienced -a surge of hope. It had been <i>he</i> who had reached out to Nadine. Not -the Cyberene controlling him!</p> - -<p>Was there still hope? At two o'clock Nadine would pick up his lab -report sheets and turn them over to Glassman. Then the identity of the -ideal nerve fluid would be known. It would be out of his hands even if -he were in full control of his faculties.</p> - -<p>He and Nadine rose. They were going back to the lab building. He raged -against the hidden mental barriers that contained him. He fought -frenziedly to influence some slight movement of his body.</p> - -<p>He might as well have been a passenger on an ocean liner trying to -change the course of the thousands of tons of steel by thought alone -while standing at the rail.</p> - -<p>His sphere of awareness grew clouded. He was raging against a mental -wall that became almost tangible. He stopped fighting from sheer -impotence—and the barrier retreated.</p> - -<p><i>The more I fight the more helpless I am.</i> That thought at once created -its corollary. <i>The less I struggle the closer I am to control!</i></p> - -<p>That was it! He had so identified his desires with the actions of his -body that for one instant he <i>meshed</i> with it!</p> - -<p>That, then, was the secret. The principle. But it contained within -itself its own difficulty. By "wanting" to activate the Brain he could -perhaps actually control some of his actions. But the instant he did -something counter to the Cyberene, that control would be taken away -from him, and replaced by throbbing pain.</p> - -<p>He <i>had</i> touched Nadine's hand though. It had been a gesture so -unconscious that the Cyberene had been unaware of it until it happened.</p> - -<p>It was the right direction.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The possibility of what he wanted to do filled him with a sense of -defeat. It would be impossible to falsify the lab report on the nerve -fluid. One false word on the card, and the Cyberene would erase it and -fill the card out correctly.</p> - -<p>He fought back the feeling of futility. He reached out, identifying -himself with every sensation from his body. He was walking. He <i>wanted</i> -to walk. He was talking. He <i>wanted</i> to say what he heard himself say.</p> - -<p>It would go along well, and then his body would do something he didn't -expect, and he would be filled with the realization that he had no -control. It would be a mental stumble while his body didn't falter.</p> - -<p>During each brief period of identifying his desires with his actions, -he found his awareness of sensations expand until it was almost -complete identification—complete <i>meshing</i>.</p> - -<p>Meshing until the gears were almost strong enough to grip—for a brief -second. Perhaps in time they would grip for more than a second before -alarm bells rang for the Cyberene.</p> - -<p>He was alone in his lab. He was placing the fine tubes of test -substances in their respective instrument cabinets. Ordinarily he did -this almost automatically. Now he watched his every move, building up -interest in it, <i>desiring</i> to do everything he did, anticipating what -he would do next and wanting to do it, pretending it was he who issued -the commands to his muscles.</p> - -<p>The crucial moment was just ahead. He had stepped to the instrument -case that held the key fluid. He started to write down the readings -from the instruments. His fingers shook, and it was <i>his</i> nervousness -that shook them.</p> - -<p>A "mistake" in the readings here and there would do it. Speed of ion -travel: The meter said two thousand plus feet per second. His fingers -wrote the two and a zero. Before he could write the second zero he -tried to write the plus sign. Triumphantly he saw his fingers obey his -will.</p> - -<p>Abruptly they paused—and he was aware that a power outside his will -had made them pause.</p> - -<p>Throbbing pain surged up to full intensity, enveloping him, sickening -him so that his soul was a writhing thing, unable to think or feel -anything other than pain. Slowly it lessened—or was he growing better -able to suffer it? Thoughts filtered in to him through gray mists -clouding his mind.</p> - -<p>He saw his hands fill out the rest of the card correctly. He was dimly -aware of rushing excitedly from the lab, down the hall, shouting that -he had found it.</p> - -<p>Others were joining him as he hurried to Glassman's office and burst -in, waving the card.</p> - -<p>Glassman seized it, his eyes afire with the fulfillment of his Dream.</p> - -<p>And it was too late. Too late now to erase the knowledge of the -identity of that fluid from Glassman's mind, from the minds of the -other nine scientists crowding around him, congratulating him.</p> - -<p>It was too late.</p> - -<p>That realization crowded out everything else. The Cyberene had won.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"We want to put it through every test conceivable," Glassman said. -"All ten of you drop everything else and work on it. Get the speed of -impulse down to the last fraction of an inch per second. Get behavior -in different sized tubes. Find the least diameter of the fluid column -for non-function. Everything. We want to be <i>sure</i> before we start -pumping two hundred and fifty thousand gallons of the stuff into the -Brain."</p> - -<p>Dr. Glassman's eyes were afire with the triumph of success. "The dream -of my life has come true," he said. "The Brain will live! It will live -forever, growing wiser than any man or any group of men. It will remake -the world. Civilization. It will end wars. It will guide mankind into a -garden of Eden. Utopia. It was <i>my</i> dream for mankind."</p> - -<p>He became aware of those watching him. The fire of fanaticism left -his eyes. He relaxed, and laughed embarrassedly. "But right now -congratulations are in order for Dr. Frye. He's the one who has found -the substance that makes it possible."</p> - -<p>Nadine had been standing quietly on the sidelines, almost forgotten -in this moment. She came forward now and extended her hand. -"Congratulations, Dr. Frye," she said.</p> - -<p>It was for effect. Earl heard himself say, "Maybe <i>you</i> are the one who -should get the credit." He paid little attention. It was a show, an -opera, and his body and hers were players reciting lines from a script.</p> - -<p>But her hand in his was warm. He clung to the feel of it, thinking -bitterly that now there was nothing else. What would become of him? He -didn't care.</p> - -<p>He sunk into a mood of utter defeat. It was all the worse, he realized, -because right now, if the Cyberene had not come into the picture, if he -had been left to himself, he would be deliriously happy—just as his -own exterior self was seeming to be.</p> - -<p>After a while he was back in the lab. His body was working on more -elaborate experiments with the fluid. His vocal cords were humming a -tune in a tone of absent-minded happiness.</p> - -<p>He wished fervently that there were some way he could be wiped out -completely. Gray walls around his awareness were not enough. Not with -the unbearable suffering.</p> - -<p>The hours passed slowly for him. He tried not to think, to remain -passive. It was no use. His bitterness was too strong. His sense of -defeat was too overpowering.</p> - -<p>His eyes glanced up at the door as it opened, then down at his wrist -watch. It was three minutes after five. Nadine was in the doorway.</p> - -<p>"It's time to go Earl," she said.</p> - -<p>Go? Where? But his body hastily putting things in order as though it -knew.</p> - -<p>They left the building together, walked along the sidewalk as though -they might be headed toward some dinner rendezvous. They left the -sidewalk, and then Earl knew. They were going to the entrance to the -time tube. They were going back to the year 3042. Why? He should have -remained. Maybe this would create suspicion. But even as he thought -that, he knew it wouldn't. Everyone would think he and Nadine were at -some restaurant, perhaps later at some night spot. No one would bother -to check and see if he came back to his rooms.</p> - -<p>Ahead was the clear spot with its smooth convex depression. And the -shimmering refraction in the air. Side by side he and Nadine walked -toward it—and were in a corridor, the woodland scene wiped out.</p> - -<p>No unusual sensation of any kind. Stepping across a thousand years was -no different than crossing the threshold of a doorway.</p> - -<p>George Ladd was there waiting for them. "The Cyberene wants to see both -of you," he said. Nothing more. No paralysis gun, no guards to keep -Earl from escaping. But he couldn't escape. He couldn't move a muscle -of his own volition. "Okay," he heard himself say casually.</p> - -<p>He and Nadine left the building and went through the beautiful park to -the Dome. Inside, they walked along the seemingly roofless slightly -curving corridor. He went to a small red square and stood on it. Out of -the corner of his eye he saw Nadine do the same. From above, the glass -boxes were lowered over them.</p> - -<p><i>Something left him.</i> Without having tested the feeling, he knew that -he was in full possession of himself. He could command and his body, -his voice, would obey.</p> - -<p>He turned toward the glass wall facing Nadine. He pressed against it. -She was doing the same.</p> - -<p>"Nadine!" he said, and it was a greeting, a caress.</p> - -<p>"Earl!"</p> - -<p>And they were drinking in one another with their eyes.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"Very touching," a voice said. "One would think you are in love with -her, Earl Frye."</p> - -<p>"Oh no. I—That is...." Earl stopped in amazement at the self -revelation.</p> - -<p>"Look at her," the Cyberene's voice said. "In spite of most careful -conditioning starting in the lab tank in her pre-breathing stage, she -feels the same way about you."</p> - -<p>Nadine's lips were trembling with a smile. She was nodding.</p> - -<p>Earl was irritated. "Did you bring me here just to tell me that?" he -asked. "Or to torture me further?" he added bitterly.</p> - -<p>"No. I brought you here to show you that I'm grateful. You did what -I wanted done. The fact that it was done in spite of you makes no -difference. It's done and can't be undone by you. You realize that?"</p> - -<p>"To gloat. I might have known," Earl said contemptuously.</p> - -<p>"Not that either. I want to reward you. I've thoroughly explored your -mind. I know that if you give your word, you will keep it. I understand -a little about your feeling on personal freedom. Now that the vital -fluid is known to enough people so that nothing you can do would undo -that, I'm willing to let you have Nadine. The real Nadine."</p> - -<p>"Yes?" Earl said warily.</p> - -<p>"Yes. All I ask in return is your promise not to try to undo anything, -and to go ahead with your work without ever mentioning what has -happened. Once you give your promise, I will let you and Nadine go to -your time and stay there, free agents."</p> - -<p>Earl frowned. "I don't get it," he said. "I didn't expect anything like -this from you."</p> - -<p>"You thought that after I had by-passed you and accomplished my purpose -I would eliminate you?" The Cyberene laughed. "You will find that -I'm a very benevolent master." The video eyes seemed to glisten with -joviality.</p> - -<p>"I still don't get it," Earl said, puzzled. "You want my word that I -won't interfere with anything you do from here on in."</p> - -<p>"Yes. After all, there is a lot to do yet before the Brain in your time -stream is activated. I must—"</p> - -<p>"So!" Earl interrupted. "According to your theory of time that you so -carefully explained to me, the discovery of the vital nerve substance -should have fixed up everything. It didn't."</p> - -<p>"The Brain hasn't been activated yet in your time stream. When it has, -then the future will reshape itself."</p> - -<p>"I want to understand," Earl said. "As I understand it, some act, some -<i>crucial</i> act, must be changed from the way it happened in the past—in -my future in that past. Until that crucial moment is changed from the -way it happened, all the future stemming from it remains unaltered. The -instant that crucial moment is changed, presto—the whole future from -1980 right down to 3042 does a mighty flip flop and <i>right here and -now</i>, in that other Earth so close to this one, things will change as -abruptly as the change of scene on a screen."</p> - -<p>"That's correct."</p> - -<p>"Then getting my lab reports correct wasn't the thing. There is still -something to come, back there, that must be changed? In spite of -everything up to now, you are still facing defeat? That's why you are -willing to offer me so much?"</p> - -<p>"You misunderstand my motives," the Cyberene said.</p> - -<p>"I don't think so. You aren't dealing with a mind-slave now. You may -be non-human, but you're a thinking mind. You have desires, motives -for doing things, ways of doing them. In other words, you're a type. -In offering me everything I want, you're out of your type—unless -there's something you want that you can't get any other way. When I -came in here I was licked. All I wanted was to die. Now I'm not so -sure. I'm not even sure you know what you're doing. I have <i>hope. Do -you understand that?</i>" Earl was trembling violently, a mixture of -emotions coursing through him. "I'm going to destroy you before I'm -done. You're going to take control of me again and try to prevent that. -You don't know whether you can or not because <i>you can't go into your -future</i>. You can't even go into the past in any detail. How do I know -that? I'm a scientist. I'm trained to put two and two together and get -four. If you could go anywhere in the past you could have explored -every detail of my future and know now what happened."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps I do know," the Cyberene said. "You forget I'm attempting -to <i>change</i> what happened. I have changed what happened. In the time -stream the way it was originally, you discovered the right nerve fluid, -and suppressed it. You faked a negative report on it. I've changed that -much of the past already."</p> - -<p>"Have you?" Earl said dully, his emotion spent. "All right then. Don't -mind me. You're not going to get any promise from me no matter how much -you torture me." His voice changed to cold bitterness. "I'm going to -fight you to the end—and win. I don't know how, but the very fact that -you haven't changed the present of that other Earth proves you haven't -succeeded yet—and won't. <i>I'll</i> win. Then I'll destroy you, and Nadine -and I can be free."</p> - -<p>But somewhere along the line the Cyberene had taken control again. -Earl wasn't quite sure when his vocal cords stopped obeying his mental -commands.</p> - -<p>His body was standing quietly. He could not affect it. The gray walls -were closing in around him, the pain growing. He didn't fight it. He -welcomed the gray walls that clouded the channels to his conscious mind.</p> - -<p>He sensed dimly that he and Nadine were going back the way they had -come. Back to the time tube. Back to 1980, to what might be the final -battle.</p> - -<p>He was alone in his living quarters. He was aware of sleeping. Then it -was morning, and he crept cautiously into his conscious mind, a hurt -and wounded soul. And his conscious mind was serene and happy, unaware -of his suffering as it began its day's work.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"Hi, Earl."</p> - -<p>Earl looked up with a smile. "Hello, Basil. How's things going with you -and Irene?"</p> - -<p>Basil smiled wryly. "Well ... at least she's discovered that I'm a -pretty fair dancer. She envies you. I guess I do too. You have all the -luck."</p> - -<p>"Nonsense! Discovering the right substance was like winning the Irish -Sweepstakes."</p> - -<p>"That's what I mean. You did nothing more than any of the rest of us. -It was pure chance that the right stuff was on a tray given to you to -test. But in the history books your name will get the credit—just like -it took brains."</p> - -<p>Earl shrugged. "I'm afraid all our names will be left out. Dr. Glassman -will get the credit. He master-minded the whole thing. He deserves the -credit, too. The rest of us are just damned good chemists. That's all. -He took the risks. If it hadn't paid off, the Dome would have been -known as Glassman's Folly."</p> - -<p>"Something in that," Basil said. "By the way, what have you found out -about Nadine? You two seem quite palsy walsy now."</p> - -<p>"She's what she claims to be," Earl said.</p> - -<p>"Is she?" Basil said, his eyes narrowing. "I think you're lying. Matter -of fact, you're different than you were. What's come over you?"</p> - -<p>"Nothing, Basil."</p> - -<p>"Nothing, he says," Basil said mournfully to the bench he was sitting -on. "What's happened to you? Have you been bought?"</p> - -<p>"What do you mean?"</p> - -<p>"You know what I mean. Nadine came here under mysterious circumstances, -to say the least. You were hot on the trail of something. You wanted me -to help you follow her. I couldn't, because Irene had given me my first -chance to date her. So you followed her by yourself. What happened?"</p> - -<p>"Sure," Earl said. "She went to the best hotel in town. I called her on -a house phone and asked her to have dinner with me. She did."</p> - -<p>"Did she tell you how she happened to be only four inches high and -naked when you first met her?"</p> - -<p>Earl stared at Basil in mock astonishment. "Basil," he said softly. -"Haven't you ever heard of that terrible scourge of the human -race—alcohol?"</p> - -<p>"Don't give me that!" Basil said, his nostrils flaring. "You were stone -sober. I was with you for an hour while you bought those clothes and -patiently gathered fashion magazines that would show a dame who didn't -know the first thing about it how to put them on. I saw Nadine in -this lab, being carried off by a man. I was paralyzed by a ray gun or -something from a gun. So were you."</p> - -<p>"He's right, Earl."</p> - -<p>Both men turned toward the door. It was Nadine. She closed the door and -came into the lab.</p> - -<p>"Maybe we should take him with us, Earl," she said. "If we don't, -he's going to think the worst things about us. I know we swore you to -secrecy, but he could wreck everything."</p> - -<p>"Maybe you're right," Earl said.</p> - -<p>"Oh no," Basil said, edging toward the door. "They <i>did</i> something to -you, Earl. I'm not going to give them a chance to do the same thing to -me."</p> - -<p>"Don't be a fool," Earl said. "Let me at least explain things."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Nadine was edging toward the door to cut off Basil's escape. He saw -this, and leaped past her to the door, pulling it open.</p> - -<p>"Come back here and let me explain," Earl heard himself say.</p> - -<p>"You can explain to the Secret Service," Basil said.</p> - -<p>He shut the door on them. An impulse made him turn toward Dr. -Glassman's office. He would tell him first, and if that didn't get -results he would go to the S. S. boys.</p> - -<p>He knocked on Glassman's door and pushed it open without waiting for an -invitation.</p> - -<p>"Dr. Glassman," he said quickly, "something very suspicious is going on -around here. I should have told you about it sooner, but I thought Earl -would be able to explain his actions, and Nadine's. Have you looked -into her credentials? She isn't what she claims. I know, but I don't -know how I'm going to prove it right now. She's done something to Earl. -He isn't the same. They're in this together."</p> - -<p>"Just a minute, Dr. Nelson," Glassman cut in. "Are you trying to say -that Dr. Frye and Dr. Holmes are in on some mad scheme to sabotage the -Brain? You must be mad. Why, Dr. Frye discovered the chemical we've -spent close to a million dollars searching for!"</p> - -<p>"I know that," Basil said doggedly, "but just the same—"</p> - -<p>"You're out of your mind. What are you trying to do? Curry favor with -me at the expense of innocent and hard working people? I've a good -notion to discharge you on the spot."</p> - -<p>"You've got to listen to—"</p> - -<p>"Get out. I'll hear no more of it."</p> - -<p>Basil stared at him blankly, then nodded. "All right," he said, "but -you're going to have to listen later. I'm taking it to the Secret -Service. They'll have to listen."</p> - -<p>He backed out, closing the door on Glassman's angry face. When he -turned to go down the hall he saw Earl and Nadine coming toward him. -With them was George Ladd, his right hand in his suit coat pocket over -something bulging—the paralysis gun, maybe.</p> - -<p>Basil turned the other way and down another hall, running with a speed -born of fear and determination. He knew now he had been right.</p> - -<p>A door opened. Irene came out, almost bumping into him. "Where are you -going in such a hurry, Basil?" she demanded.</p> - -<p>"Can't explain now," he said. She stood in his way. "Come with me," he -said desperately. "I'll explain on the way. Hurry."</p> - -<p>She nodded. Together they ran down the hall and reached the side exit. -Taking Irene's hand, Basil plunged away from the sidewalk through -scattered trees, until they reached the parking lot. He unlocked his -car with shaking fingers and told Irene to get in. He rushed around to -the driver's side.</p> - -<p>The motor caught instantly. He started with a clash of gears. In the -rear view mirror he saw George Ladd running toward him. Then he reached -the street—and almost immediately was slowed by heavy traffic.</p> - -<p>Groaning under his breath, he made the best time he could. Irene -watched him silently for two blocks.</p> - -<p>"Aren't you going to tell me what it is?" she asked abruptly.</p> - -<p>"He's after me," Basil said. "We've got to get there before he can stop -me. You can listen when I tell the Secret Service about it."</p> - -<p>Ahead was a traffic jam. Basil turned into a side street where he made -better time. It was taking him forever to get there. But finally his -destination was just ahead. The office building where the S. S. had its -local office.</p> - -<p>There was a parking space. Basil swerved toward it and braked to a -stop. He reached past Irene and opened her door.</p> - -<p>"Get out and run for it," he said.</p> - -<p>The screech of tires almost drowned his voice. He looked over his -shoulder. A car had pulled up beside his in the street. He saw George -Ladd behind the wheel, alone.</p> - -<p>Frantically, Basil pushed Irene out and followed her, taking her hand -as they ran toward the building entrance fifteen feet away.</p> - -<p>"We've got to make it," he said. "We've got to...."</p> - -<p>There was no sound, no light, from the weapon George Ladd pointed at -them.</p> - -<p>Basil sprawled forward. Before he hit the sidewalk, flame burst from -his hair, his clothing.</p> - -<p>Irene stopped, forgetting her danger or not knowing it. She bent down -by Basil, reaching to help him. She remained in that position for -a long second while her hair and clothing burst into flames, then -crumpled against him.</p> - -<p>Horrified pedestrians drew back from the bodies, the stench of seared -flesh. In the street a motor roared into life. The car with George Ladd -sped away.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Earl turned away from the window. "George Ladd just brought my car -back," he said. "I guess he isn't coming in. He's walking into the -woods toward the tube entrance."</p> - -<p>Nadine nodded casually.</p> - -<p>Within his mental prison Earl worried. What had Ladd done? He wouldn't -dare to kill Basil. The worst that could happen would be that Basil -would be taken before the Cyberene and made him into a mind-slave too.</p> - -<p>There were footsteps in the hall. The door opened. It was Dr. Glassman, -his lips set in a grim line.</p> - -<p>"Dr. Frye," Glassman said. "Basil came to me with a story of something -going on he didn't like. He accused you and Dr. Holmes of some scheme -to sabotage the Brain."</p> - -<p>"That's utter nonsense," Earl heard himself say.</p> - -<p>"Why, I can't understand—" Nadine began.</p> - -<p>"I thought so too," Glassman said, "until I received a telephone call -from the police just now. Basil and Irene were killed a few moments ago -while on their way to try to get the Secret Service to listen to what I -refused to hear."</p> - -<p>"Oh," Nadine said without expression. Earl said nothing. He was too -stunned to think.</p> - -<p>"I'm going to get to the bottom of this," Glassman went on grimly. "You -may both consider yourselves relieved of your duties until the Secret -Service has investigated thoroughly. Save your explanations until I've -called them."</p> - -<p>Earl tried to warn Glassman. He forced his lips open to call to -him—and a wave of searing throbbing pain lashed at him, forcing him -back behind the gray fog.</p> - -<p>Through the mental haze he saw George Ladd in the doorway, a -thirty-eight Colt automatic in his hand—something Glassman would -understand.</p> - -<p>"Come with me, Dr. Glassman," Ladd said expressionlessly.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>When Glassman returned an hour later, to all outward appearances he was -unchanged, except that he made no mention of the deaths of Basil and -Irene. Nor did he say anything about suspending Earl and Nadine.</p> - -<p>From his own experience Earl knew that one part of Glassman was raging -against his mental prison, perhaps feeling the sadistic torture with -which the Cyberene kept him chained.</p> - -<p>By a supreme effort Earl pulled himself away from thinking about what -had happened. It multiplied his determination to free himself enough to -defeat the Cyberene and destroy it. But raging impotently against the -Brain's control wouldn't accomplish a thing.</p> - -<p>Little by little he willed himself back to a frame of thought where he -could reach out into his conscious mind again, matching his thoughts -and moods with it. It had somehow "forgotten" much of what had -happened to Basil and Irene and Glassman. It was thinking about Nadine.</p> - -<p>Earl thought about her too. She loved him. She didn't know what love -was, but it was there, revealed in the brief moment she had been free -to express herself. Was that love now making her try to overthrow the -slavery of the Cyberene? Probably not. She was conditioned to accept -that inhuman intellect as her master.</p> - -<p>Earl shoved the real Nadine from his thoughts and dwelt on the Nadine -that was manifest. She was easy to love too—and why not? She was -everything that the true Nadine was—except that she was not the -<i>complete</i> Nadine. She was falling in love with him too. And his own -conscious mind was in love with her. Why not make the most of it?</p> - -<p>He inserted the idea into his conscious thoughts, and to his delight no -alarm bells rang. The Cyberene didn't interfere.</p> - -<p>"Let's go to a dance tonight after work," he said.</p> - -<p>"A dance? I don't know how to dance."</p> - -<p>"I'll teach you. It isn't hard to pick up."</p> - -<p>"All right," Nadine said.</p> - -<p>Earl worked hard the rest of the day. Tank trucks were bringing the -nerve fluid to the Dome in a never ending stream. Every load had to -be tested before it was unloaded into the storage tanks, to make sure -its quality was up to standard. One five thousand gallon load could -contaminate it all.</p> - -<p>At six o'clock he was relieved of his work. He dressed eagerly, finding -no difficulty in <i>meshing</i> one hundred per cent with the desires of his -conscious mind. He picked up Nadine at her hotel.</p> - -<p>Crestmont boasted only two places worth going. One was just a dance -floor, the other The Barn, with a small orchestra and dinners.</p> - -<p>"The orchestra isn't as good here at The Barn," Earl said when they -went in, "but we can have a table and enjoy ourselves."</p> - -<p>They ordered their dinner. The orchestra started playing and soon the -floor was fairly crowded. Earl took Nadine's hand and led her to the -dance floor. After a few steps she discovered that she could dance -quite easily. It delighted her.</p> - -<p>They returned to their table finally, and ate. Afterward they danced -again. Two of the other scientists were there with their partners. They -nodded at Earl and Nadine but didn't join them.</p> - -<p>During all this, Earl was careful not to insert any feeling, any -impulse of his own into his conscious mind. What he intended to do -must come as a surprise to both Nadine and the Cyberene, and afterwards -they must think it to be the product of that conscious mind—not Earl -himself.</p> - -<p>His opportunity arose naturally. While they were dancing he spoke -to her. She lifted her face to smile at him. Swiftly he kissed her, -letting his lips linger until the throbbing and an angriness beat into -him and a power outside himself pulled him back.</p> - -<p>He retreated in his mind, afraid even to think, lest the Cyberene sense -his thoughts and realize what he had been trying.</p> - -<p>"Why did you do that?" he heard Nadine say from a great distance, -through waves of torture.</p> - -<p>His own voice replied, "That was a kiss."</p> - -<p>"How disgusting," Nadine said.</p> - -<p>Had she meant that? Or were those just words put in her mouth by the -Cyberene.</p> - -<p>"It's one of our customs," Earl's voice said. "Watch the others on the -dance floor. Quick! See that couple over at the corner table?"</p> - -<p>Earl crept cautiously into his conscious mind to watch Nadine. She -studied the couple, puzzled. She looked up into his face thoughtfully -and began dancing again. "Maybe," she said, "it won't seem so -disgusting if we try it again."</p> - -<p>Her lips parted. Earl felt his head bend toward her. He felt the kiss, -but held himself cautiously alert for the first sign of disapproval -from the Cyberene. It didn't come.</p> - -<p>The moment passed. Earl began to relax. Had the Cyberene assumed it was -a natural action of his conscious mind divorced from him? If so, then a -major hurdle had been met successfully.</p> - -<p>"It is rather pleasant," Nadine said. Then, thoughtfully, "So that's a -kiss."</p> - -<p>Earl looked at her sharply. Was it possible that the real Nadine had -caused those words to be spoken? Maybe. It provided a new avenue of -speculation. Had Nadine long ago discovered what he was so patiently -trying now—how to circumvent the control of the Cyberene? She could -have, but not seeing any reason to do so, kept her talent hidden.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Two more days passed. Earl forgot his caution and boldly cooperated -with his conscious mind on the many tasks that took up his time. And -strangely he was almost free of pain, though it never entirely left.</p> - -<p>Dr. Glassman took all the scientists with him on a tour of inspection -within the Brain. The millions of fine glass tubes and hollow bulbs -that comprised the Brain would soon start being filled with nerve -fluid. Although tons of pressure per square inch were required to force -it into the tubes, once there, capillary attraction pulled it along.</p> - -<p>On the first trip Earl retreated from his conscious mind as much as -possible, while still watching everything around him closely. He had -been inside the Brain many times before—but never with any thought of -discovering a weakness where it could be destroyed.</p> - -<p>That was the task he had set himself. It was an almost impossible one. -Destroying the Brain now, in 1980, might not accomplish his purpose. -The damage could be repaired.</p> - -<p>He thought of dynamite and rejected it. It would deteriorate long -before 3042, and even if it remained potent, it would do no more than -damage a small part of the Brain—not enough to more than partially -impair its thinking or give it a case of specialized forgetfulness. A -dynamite explosion in such an enormous brain would be equivalent to a -blood clot on a human brain.</p> - -<p>Nothing better presented itself to him on that first trip. Was he going -to fail?</p> - -<p>The next day pumping of the nerve fluid began. The masses of hair-fine -glass tubing lost their appearance of glass wool and began to appear as -individual threads of yellowish orange.</p> - -<p>It would be many days before the "loading", as it was termed, would be -completed, but everyone was kept busy watching it, and catching broken -threads as they started to ooze fluid, sealing them with a special -formula sealer.</p> - -<p>During these days a dozen plans to destroy the Brain occurred to Earl. -Each had its defects that would make it fail. As the "loading" neared -its last day, only one possibility remained.</p> - -<p>Great precautions had been taken to make the Brain free from vibration. -The slightest sound of almost any frequency, if continued long enough, -would find a nerve strand that would vibrate to it and snap.</p> - -<p>A loudspeaker broadcasting at full power over the entire range of sound -would be more devastating to the Brain than a ton of dynamite exploded -in its heart. There was the answer—Vibration!</p> - -<p>But once again there was the problem of installing it, and being able -to use it after a thousand years. Install it and use a clock to trigger -it? That was one possibility. Clocks run by atomic power would keep -accurate time over much longer periods.</p> - -<p><i>But there was the problem of getting the Cyberene to agree to the -installation of such a device.</i> That was necessary. During the days -that Earl had studied the Cyberene's control of his conscious mind -he had found no way to gain any sort of positive control which the -Cyberene couldn't shunt out at once. Therefore whatever plan he devised -must meet with the approval of the Cyberene.</p> - -<p>Tentatively he inserted a bold thought, feeling sure that the Cyberene -wouldn't attribute it to him, but merely to the logical processes of -his conscious mind.</p> - -<p><i>What if the Brain doesn't develop along lines sympathetic to you?</i> -He elaborated upon it, feeding worry thoughts along with it. A second -Brain might not follow the line of development of the first, any more -than one human develops like another, even when they are twins. Rather -than accomplishing his aim of having a second Cyberene on the other -Earth in 3042, holding the human population in slavery, it might prove -a more formidable enemy than the people of that Earth. And if that -turned out to be the case, wouldn't it be better to have a trump card? -Some way of destroying the second Cyberene at any time? Even if it were -friendly to the first, it might want to be boss. Power of life and -death over it would prevent that.</p> - -<p>Earl's conscious mind, entirely cooperative with the Cyberene, soon -began to think very dominantly along those lines. Earl sat back and -waited for some reaction from the Cyberene. It was not long in coming.</p> - -<p>At five o'clock Nadine looked him up and informed him that they were to -report to the Cyberene at once.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"I have detected certain thoughts in your mind," the voice of the -Cyberene sounded. "I would like to hear what you have to say."</p> - -<p>Earl sensed his mind rallying its thoughts. "I've been wondering what -the other Cyberene would be like. That's all. There's no guarantee that -it will have any special traits that will make it what you want it to -be, and once it's started it's out of your control, isn't it?"</p> - -<p>"That's true. Time travel and even fifth dimension travel is extremely -limited. Once the other Cyberene is generated, I can't contact it until -3042—now."</p> - -<p>"Can you look into your future and see—"</p> - -<p>"Unfortunately, no. I can't even see into your tomorrow. I might, -perhaps, jump to the year 4104 A. D., but even that is beyond my -present ability and instruments. It may be many centuries before I -understand everything about hyperspace."</p> - -<p>"That's what I surmised," Earl heard himself say. He stole a glance -at Nadine, who was watching him attentively. "That's why I think, for -your own protection, you should be able to destroy the other Cyberene -instantly—if it isn't what you hope it will be."</p> - -<p>"How?" The Cyberene's voice was vibrant with eagerness.</p> - -<p>"The basic device would be sound vibrations in the air, inside its -braincase. A loud continuous sound of nearly all frequencies would -cause billions of nerve strands to vibrate, and enough of them would -break to destroy the functioning of the whole. That could be built into -it in 1980. The problem is to decide how to trigger it. Do you have any -ideas?"</p> - -<p>"It's very simple," the Cyberene said. "It will never forget once it -learns something. Before its mind integrates into a self aware ego, -attach a relay to some motor outlets. Decide on some key combination of -sounds that might be spoken. Repeat them into the auditory centers of -the Brain, at the same time tripping the relay. Keep doing that until -utterance of the sequence of sounds causes the relay to trip. When that -response is automatic, connect the relay to the loudspeaker. Once you -have done that, report to me. Then all I need do is contact the second -Cyberene, in this age, and if I want to destroy it I can repeat the -sounds."</p> - -<p>Earl, in his mental cubicle, chuckled. He could not have thought of a -better way himself.</p> - -<p>"And," the Cyberene said, "in order to account for your task, you had -better 'sell' Glassman on the idea. Tell him it's so that <i>mankind</i> can -destroy the Brain if necessary. But make sure no one in 1980 knows the -key sounds. You may return to 1980."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"I've had much the same thought," Victor Glassman said, chewing on his -lip. "I rather hated to think about it though. Destroy my Creation? -Still, I suppose it's wise—to be <i>able</i> to." He stood up and came -around from behind his desk.</p> - -<p>Earl and Nadine watched without speaking as he clasped his hands behind -his back and went to the window of his office which brought him a view -of part of the giant dome housing the Brain.</p> - -<p>"Every precaution is being taken otherwise. Until we can be sure of -ourselves we don't intend on letting the Brain have control of any -machines or weapons. Of course we could forget that danger, in time, -and suddenly wake up to the fact that we were too late. Then it would -be nice to still be able to.... All right. Go ahead. Keep it under your -hats though. And when you're done we can form a select group, handing -the—" he smiled wryly,—"password down from generation to generation."</p> - -<p>"I have the plans all drawn up," Earl said. "An electrostatic speaker, -because it can be built with parts that will last forever. No moving -parts in the frequency generator or amplifier. Leads to the permanent -busses that will supply current for such things as video eyes and the -voice speaker system...."</p> - -<p>"Good. Good. Only we will indoctrinate that Mind early so that it will -never do anything detrimental to us."</p> - -<p>"Of course," Earl soothed. "This is only precautionary."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Days followed one another swiftly. A factory-made electrostatic -loudspeaker arrived, and was dismantled so that some of its parts could -be replaced with more durable ones. Specifications for the frequency -generators and the amplifier were farmed out, and the completed units -arrived.</p> - -<p>There was trouble with the relay. It was well designed, but there -was doubt whether it would still be in working condition after ten -centuries. Earl sent specifications to a jewelry manufacturer in Kansas -City and had its moving parts made of synthetic ruby and platinum.</p> - -<p>The Cyberene <i>watched</i> every step of construction—and so did Earl, -from within his artificially created mental wall, careful not to reveal -the huge holes he had knocked in it.</p> - -<p>With the arrival of the remade relay, Earl and Nadine entered the -Brain, setting up a vibration-proof chasis in its innermost heart -where the maze of fine spun glass was now a maze of yellowish threads -containing a fluid with exactly the same properties as human nerve -fluid.</p> - -<p>Outside, swarming over the catwalks and dotting the immense corridor -circling the Brain, were dozens of technicians and experts, beginning -the task of barraging the gigantic man-made brain with a never ending -sequence of visual and audible sensory impressions which, according to -theory, would eventually synthesize that miracle of creation loosely -known as thought in the thousands of tons of glass and nerve fluid.</p> - -<p>Using a portable low power microscope and the techniques he had -acquired during the months of work on the Brain in its construction, -Earl attached motor buds to randomly chosen nerves, and sensory buds to -others, attaching them to the transistors that would feed the relay, so -that the action of the relay would set up nerve impulses in the Brain. -When it had been done, he used sensitive detectors to make sure ion -currents were generated in the nerves.</p> - -<p>Where those nerve impulses went to among the billions of "brain cells" -didn't matter. All that mattered was that they went <i>somewhere</i>, so -that the basic property of association would "hook them on" to the -auditory impression created by speaking the code word or sequence of -code sounds.</p> - -<p>"What should we use as the code sounds?" Nadine asked as their task -neared completion.</p> - -<p>"I've been trying to think of something," Earl said.</p> - -<p>And in his mental prison Earl had been trying to think of the -same thing, keeping track of his conscious mind's thoughts on the -subject—even influencing them at times.</p> - -<p>It would have to be a sequence of sounds that stood no chance whatever -of being spoken to the Brain during the next thousand years. Otherwise -they might be spoken by chance and the Brain destroyed.</p> - -<p>"How about nonsense syllables?" Nadine suggested.</p> - -<p>Earl grinned. "Those are the most dangerous of all. Take Y.M.C.A. It's -the initials of a huge organization. Any nonsense sequence of letters, -no matter how long, might someday be the letters of some organization."</p> - -<p>Nadine frowned in bewilderment. "But what else is there? If we take -any sequence of sensible words, they might be repeated in reference to -something else at any time."</p> - -<p>"Not if they're <i>very</i> special," Earl said, and it was the real Earl -Frye, almost completely out of his mental walls and daring discovery -recklessly, who was speaking now.</p> - -<p>An impish light glowed in Nadine's eyes, making Earl almost sure that -the real Nadine had sensed long ago what he was doing and had done the -same, <i>meshing</i> cautiously with her conscious mind until at times, -camouflaged by its normal thoughts, she could <i>appear</i>.</p> - -<p>"Kiss me, Earl Frye," she said, lifting her face toward his.</p> - -<p>"The pleasure is all mine, Nadine Holmes," he said, cupping her face in -his hands and pressing his lips to hers. "And that's what I mean," he -murmured through imprisoned lips. "No one else, through all the ages, -will say those words, let alone say them in the same way."</p> - -<p>She drew back. "No!" she said abruptly. "The Cyberene has promised that -we can stay in your time, free to do as we please. That would mean that -we would have to be in the future—in <i>my</i> time."</p> - -<p>"But only until the Cyberene could make sure," Earl said, glad that she -had made that objection. It would allay the Cyberene's suspicions if -it had any.</p> - -<p>A telepathed thought impinged on Earl's mind, and from Nadine's -expression, on hers too. <i>Earl is right. I have thought of the problem -of what the key sound should be. He has hit on the right answer. It -must be your voices, filled with emotion, speaking those words you just -spoke.</i></p> - -<p>Again Earl relaxed with a mental sigh of relief. He had reached his -goal. There was nothing more for him to do now, except wait. His -conscious mind would carry on the details under the supervision of the -Cyberene.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A microphone was brought into the Brain, already attached to the -auditory centers of the Brain. Earl examined the microphone, then went -in search of another type. "We must have one with a contact button on -it," he explained, "so that just the key words impinge on the Brain -when we close the relay manually."</p> - -<p>At last everything was ready. "Now!" Earl said.</p> - -<p>Nadine lifted her face and closed her eyes. "Kiss me, Earl Frye," she -said.</p> - -<p>Earl released the button. "That isn't the way," he said. "Imagine we -are alone in the universe, and we are about to die. Imagine swirling -mists about to envelope you and drag you away from me forever, and -this is the last kiss you'll ever get!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, no!" Nadine whispered, opening her eyes wide. "That must never -happen! The Cyberene has promised!"</p> - -<p>"Close your eyes and imagine it is," Earl said. "Close your eyes. -Now—there are swirling mists. Your world of dreams has crashed around -you. Ahead is—destruction. You can't escape it. It's coming, closer. -You're going to die, but before you do you want—"</p> - -<p>"Kiss me, Earl Frye," Nadine said.</p> - -<p>"That's it. Say it again." Earl pressed the mike button.</p> - -<p>"Kiss me, Earl Frye...."</p> - -<p>Earl closed his eyes. It was the end. In another moment he would die. -He had failed. He held this in his mind's eye. With a mixture of -sadness and tenderness, and bitterness, he said, "The pleasure is all -mine, Nadine Holmes," and tripped the relay with his fingers.</p> - -<p>Would it work? After the hundredth try he began to wonder. But the -repeated words with their inflections, their subtle differences in -repetition, had to build up in the Brain, synthesize, associate with -the sensation of the tripping of the relay—and <i>connect</i>. There was -as yet no <i>mind</i> functioning in that mass of glass and nerve fluid. No -ready made paths to coordinated concepts, conscious thought.</p> - -<p>It was the next day before his fingers felt the relay trip of its -own accord. <i>Drama</i>, he thought, feeling the thrill of that sentient -movement. He said nothing to Nadine, not wanting to end their game. And -the next time the relay didn't trip. And the next. But the next time it -did, and the next and the next....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"You're done?" Dr. Glassman said, rubbing his hands in great -satisfaction. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "What is the code -word?"</p> - -<p>Earl winked at Nadine, then looked around in a pretense at making sure -no one could hear. "We picked L.S.M.F.T.," he whispered. "I figured -that since a cigarette company had used that in its advertising years -ago, it would never be used again by anybody."</p> - -<p>"Excellent!" Glassman beamed. "Excellent! To think that by uttering -those five letters this entire project, representing millions of -dollars—before it's a completely integrated Mind—can be <i>shattered</i>." -He looked around him, exuding a sense of his newly acquired power.</p> - -<p>"And," Earl said ruefully, "I guess that winds up everything for me in -Project Brain, doesn't it? I hope so. I could use a vacation."</p> - -<p>Dr. Glassman looked slyly from Earl to Nadine. "Are congratulations in -order?"</p> - -<p>Earl bent swiftly and whispered in Glassman's ear, "I haven't asked -her yet. I wanted to wait until our work was over. You know, business -before pleasure."</p> - -<p>"Ha ha!" Glassman chuckled knowingly, looking at Nadine with an -I-know-a-secret look. "You're a man after my own heart, Earl." Then, -more soberly, "Yes, I guess you are due for a vacation. And your -consultant duties are finished, Dr. Holmes. I'll miss both of you."</p> - -<p>Earl and Nadine left Glassman outside the Brain, and returned to the -lab annex. They didn't speak as they walked down the hall to Earl's -lab. They stood just inside the door, looking over the scene of -machines and instruments and tables and bottles which had been their -surroundings for so long.</p> - -<p>Earl looked at the lab table where he had first seen Nadine, so many -days—it seemed ages—ago. He would never see this place again. He -entertained no illusions about the future. The Cyberene would never -permit them to return to 1980.</p> - -<p>With heavy feet he went across the lab to his living quarters. He began -packing, and Nadine sat on the arm of a chair, watching.</p> - -<p>"What are you doing?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"Packing my belongings to take with us," Earl said.</p> - -<p>"Oh, but you don't need to do that. We'll be back in a few hours—a day -or two at the most. The Cyberene has promised. Just as soon as it makes -sure it doesn't need us."</p> - -<p>"Sure," Earl said, "but I'll take them just the same. Then when we come -back we can go straight to the airport and catch a plane to Miami or -someplace and get married."</p> - -<p>Fifteen minutes later they left the lab. They walked along the familiar -sidewalk to the spot where they always cut through the woods toward the -hill, circling it so no one would know where they had gone.</p> - -<p>They reached the clearing. Ahead, shimmering in the evening sun, was -the familiar refractive outline in the atmosphere. There was no breeze -to stir the still leaves. A meadowlark broke the silence with its call, -and was silent. Over the trees the giant dome that housed the Brain -loomed, unbelievable in its enormous bulk.</p> - -<p>Nadine took his hand and stopped him. "Kiss me, Earl Frye," she said, -her lips trembling.</p> - -<p>Earl looked down at her upturned face. Did she know? Perhaps the real -Nadine, within, sensed what was to come.</p> - -<p>Or perhaps she didn't.</p> - -<p>The tom tom beat of pain began within him. He forced his way through -it, taking her into his arms.</p> - -<p>"The pleasure is all mine, Nadine Holmes," he murmured.</p> - -<p>Their lips met, tenderly, then crushed together with the fierceness of -passion.</p> - -<p>Their lips parted, lingeringly, regretfully. They drew back, to look -into each other's eyes for a brief moment, a moment Earl knew the -Cyberene had given them to make more bitter what was to come.</p> - -<p>Earl saw the glow fade from Nadine's eyes. As he picked up his -suitcases he heard someone approaching.</p> - -<p>Victor Glassman joined them, his face gray, his expression wooden.</p> - -<p>This was it. Glassman might be missed. There might be an investigation, -but Project Brain would go on regardless of that now. And the only ones -who might stop it were here.</p> - -<p>Side by side they walked toward the barely perceptible refractive -shimmer. Beyond it they could see the woodland, a Bluejay's flashing -wings, a chipmunk standing upright, observing them. And then they were -standing in the familiar hall, in the year 3042.</p> - -<p>George Ladd was not there, but there was no need for him to be there. -Their bodies, controlled by the Mind that enslaved them, walked on -toward the far exit and the garden they would cross—to the Dome, the -Cyberene.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>There was no turning back now. Nor would there be other days to perfect -the technique of <i>meshing</i> with his mind. Earl reached out into every -part of his thoughts, thinking them, identifying himself with them, -with the desires of the Cyberene. In that other Earth so close to this -there would now be a second Cyberene. There must be, since nothing -stood in the way of its developing throughout the ten centuries and -more since they had left it, a few minutes ago.</p> - -<p>They entered the garden and paused. Earl dropped his two suitcases -beside the path. He took Nadine's hand in his. They went on toward the -portal that led into the Dome.</p> - -<p>They walked down the silent circling corridor under the network -of catwalks and ladders, past panels of instruments whose needles -fluctuated with life, to the red squares over which hung the glass -cages, ready to be lowered. Would they be lowered, separating them from -each other while they faced the Cyberene?</p> - -<p>The glittering lenses of the two video cameras moved as they went -toward them, keeping them in line.</p> - -<p>"All of you occupy one square," the Cyberene's voice instructed.</p> - -<p>They obeyed without sign of emotion. The glass cage was lowered over -them. Its front wall became a window through which they were looking -at the familiar Dome.</p> - -<p>But it was a structure around which weeds grew in thick profusion, with -its acres of exposed surface pitted by time, untended.</p> - -<p>"What happened?" Earl said. "Do you mean to say that there is still -something to be done?"</p> - -<p>"There is nothing to be done," the Cyberene said dully. "I have checked -in that other time stream. There is still positive record that the -Brain was not activated."</p> - -<p>"Maybe it takes time for the momentum of events to force the change," -Earl suggested.</p> - -<p>Didn't the Cyberene suspect yet? Didn't it <i>realize</i>?</p> - -<p>"No," the Cyberene said dully. "I have failed. More, I have re-checked -the mathematical basis of the theoretical picture, and think I know -where I erred. The cause of the split that created two Earths, -travelling close together down through so many centuries, could not -have been something occurring in the original time stream. It took -something applied from the fifth dimension—and in the neighborhood of -the split that could only have been one thing, <i>the force with which -the time tube hooked onto 1980</i>. It had to be that. The accident. I -didn't take it into account."</p> - -<p>"That's what I've thought all along," Earl said quietly.</p> - -<p>"At that instant," the Cyberene went on as though it hadn't heard him, -"the split occurred. You became two Earl Fryes, to mention one facet of -the split. One of you went its way, making an accurate report of its -experiments, creating me eventually—"</p> - -<p>While the Cyberene talked, the desolate scene vanished, and the glass -cage lifted upward slowly, as though it were a curtain, lifting for the -final scene.</p> - -<p>The twin lenses of the Cyberene's video eyes were fixed on them, alive -with an intelligence that was inhuman.</p> - -<p>"No," Earl said. "<i>That</i> one of me discovered the identity of the nerve -substance, but suppressed it."</p> - -<p>"That couldn't be," the Cyberene objected. "Nothing appeared in its -life to cause it to do that. You were the one who had the data to make -such a decision."</p> - -<p>"But I reported accurately," Earl said. <i>Even yet it didn't see!</i></p> - -<p>"I know," the Cyberene said, "but it can't be, because then that -electrostatic speaker would be—" It stopped.</p> - -<p>"Deep inside of you," Earl continued. "Waiting only for—"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A wave of emotion blasted into his mind, driving him by its very force -into the deep recesses behind his wall of gray, into a cosmos of mind -wrenching pain.</p> - -<p>"No!" the thought blasted into him. "No human can have the power to -destroy me! It can't exist. <i>You</i> can't exist another instant, with the -danger to me!"</p> - -<p>In agony Earl reached out, meshing little by little with his conscious -mind, <i>feeling</i> its terror and fear of death, calming it, controlling -it with all the infinite skill he had learned during the past weeks.</p> - -<p>And even as he gained control against the will of the Cyberene he -realized with a sinking feeling the essential weakness of his plan. -Nadine!</p> - -<p>He had been criminally stupid, blinded by emotion toward her. She was -conditioned from birth to accept the domination of the mind of the -Cyberene.</p> - -<p>Sweating with the terrible effort it took to hold on, he forced -his muscles to permit him to turn toward her. His worst fears were -realized. She stood there, her face a calm mask that revealed no -emotion.</p> - -<p>Abruptly the raging force of thought and searing torture from the -Cyberene calmed. In its place was cold triumph.</p> - -<p>"So you have been able to defeat me in your own mind," it said. "You -made <i>your</i> error in calculation too. Nadine Holmes. She is mine."</p> - -<p>"Nadine Holmes?" It was Nadine who uttered the two words, her lips -trembling with terrible effort, beads of sweat dotting her smooth -forehead.</p> - -<p>Hope surged into Earl's thoughts. "But you can't allow her to live -either, can you?" he said. "In another moment you must destroy us -both, so that nothing can ever threaten your existence. We will have -only another minute or two before you reach into us, plunging us into -the gray swirling mists of death, where we will be separated forever. -<i>There is no way we can avoid that now, is there?</i>"</p> - -<p>Nadine had turned toward Earl, every muscle of her slim body protesting -under the domination of the Cyberene. Earl was forgotten by the Brain -as it concentrated on the battle against Nadine.</p> - -<p>She held out her arms, perspiring with the effort. "Kiss me, Earl -Frye," she whispered.</p> - -<p>A blast of fear flowed into Earl's mind. He fought to the surface -of thought, clinging there, calming himself. But defeat was -close—impossible to avoid.</p> - -<p>It had been a wonderful plan to destroy this thing that ruled the minds -of men, making them its slaves. Resistance was useless. In another -moment he would be dead.</p> - -<p>Bitterly, hopelessly, with infinite sadness, he said, as though -somewhere long ago he had repeated it before, a tender ritual whose -meaning now escaped him, "The pleasure is all mine, Nadine Holmes."</p> - -<p>Their lips met with the tenderness of farewell.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A <i>sound</i> came into being, seeming to come from far away, yet seeming -to exist everywhere, with no point of origin. It was at the same time a -deep rumble and an insane, high screaming—and every sound in between -that had ever been uttered by voice or machine or unleashed elements in -desolate places. It was soulless, yet holding within itself the torment -of every lost soul since the beginning of time.</p> - -<p>It forced its way into Earl's consciousness, hung there as though -stopped by some hidden barrier. Abruptly it swept forward, and as it -swept into the farthest reaches of Earl's mind it washed away throbbing -pain, the sense of inescapable doom, leaving <i>a sense of freedom</i>—a -clean freshness, an emotion of peace.</p> - -<p>A rapid coruscation of words, syllables, and sounds whispered and -blasted from the voice box of the Cyberene as neural circuits within -the Brain snapped or short-circuited.</p> - -<p>Earl and Nadine lifted their heads in startled surprise and a new -awakening. They saw the glittering lens eyes that had been watching -them jerk spasmodically. Within the lens of one electronic eye a flash -of blue fire exploded. Then both eyes became motionless, dead, pointed -in different directions.</p> - -<p>Overhead, giant blinding bolts of unleashed current leaped from copper -bars to catwalks. The smell of molten and burning metal filled the air. -Then, as though cut off by some hidden hand, the unholy sound within -the Brain stopped. The arcing surges of electric power in the catwalks -and power lines overhead stilled.</p> - -<p>There was silence, and motionless clouds of white and gray smoke.</p> - -<p>It took a moment for Earl to realize that in defeat he had won. It took -another moment for him to realize that it was not he who had won, but -Nadine—her love for him—a love that had grown in a girl who had never -known that love existed.</p> - -<p>There was no doubt of it now as he watched the play of expression that -crossed her face. Fear, doubt, hope, desperate hope, living hope, love, -fear, then all the love that had developed within her, shining from her -face with the spiritual brilliance of a brilliant sun.</p> - -<p>"Earl!" It was a glad cry. She clung to him as though she would never -let him go.</p> - -<p>For that matter, she would never need to, he thought, as he drew her -closer. They would need each other for the rest of their lives. Or for -a dozen lifetimes if they could have that many.</p> - -<p>"My God!" The words exploded into their minds. They had been uttered by -Dr. Glassman, and they contained all the horror, the comprehension of -everything that had happened, that the mind-enslavement had given to -him.</p> - -<p>"It's over now," Earl said. "The Cyberene is dead."</p> - -<p>Glassman shook his head vigorously. "It should never have existed in -the first place," he said. "All my dreams of what it could do to help -humanity. We've got to destroy the Brain in 1980, before any of this -can happen."</p> - -<p>Earl shook his head, looking at Nadine. "Nadine and I are staying -here," he said quietly. "There's work to do that only we can do. -People, their minds freed for the first time, bewildered, needing to -be led a little ways into the path of freedom until they can care for -themselves. A future to build—from 3042."</p> - -<p>"You can stay if you must," Glassman said, his voice vibrant with the -shock and horror of what he had experienced, "but I'm going back—to -prevent this 3042 from ever happening. I can do it. I can trip that -relay manually. It will destroy—" His voice broke. "—my life's work. -But it has to be done."</p> - -<p>He turned and ran blindly.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Earl made no move to stop him. He watched him vanish around the bend of -the corridor, waiting fatalistically. Would the scientist be able to -wipe out this time stream? Deep within him, Earl felt it couldn't be -done. The Cyberene had tried to change the past, and failed.</p> - -<p>Perhaps the Cyberene had been wrong in what it believed had caused the -split in time that produced two Earths. Maybe one part of Glassman -would be unable to bring itself to destroy its Creation, the Brain. -Maybe that's what had happened. Maybe Glassman, torn between two -opposed decisions, had been able to act on neither.</p> - -<p>Earl put his arm around Nadine. They walked slowly along the curving -corridor, circling the dead Brain, going toward the outside. They would -have work to do. Work that only they, the coalition of 1980 and 3042 -could accomplish together.</p> - -<p>There were people here in this world of 3042. How many or how few -didn't matter. They were the nucleus, the beginnings of a future -that would grow from 3042. They were the not-born, created in the -laboratory. They would have to be taught about life. And love.</p> - -<p>And other things that free men know.</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CYBERENE ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ -concept and trademark. 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