The Brain Part 17

'Okay,' I said 'I'll cut it out; I promise I will.'

But The Brain was not to be pacified. No doubt that it had further developed mentally in these past few days to the tune of years in human development. But the progress wasn't as noticeable as it had been on previous occasions because apparently The Brain had entered that period where in human terms young men are sowing their wild oats. There was a radical recklessness in the manner of The Brain's reasonings more frightening than ever before because it had outgrown me as a teacher, had lost much even of its confidence in me and seemed bent upon independence and coming into its own:

'Seven creatures approximately human in shape were led by you through My hemispheres the night of Nov. 20th. What were those?'

'Those were politicians,' I stammered.

The 'green dancer' convulsed at the word and The Brain's voice sounded icy as it said: 'Lowest form of animal life which has ever come to my observance. What did they want?'

'Well, they are not exactly bright,' I winced, 'but they are well meaning and they are very popular. They came to inspect You preliminary to the pa.s.sing of the Brainpower-Extension-Bill.'

The Brain has no laughter, so the roar I heard over the phones must have been one of scorn:

'What, not the scientists, not the technicians, not even the philosophers but these--these animated porkbarrels are pa.s.sing judgment over the extent of _My_ power? They are holding _My_ fate in that atrophied ganglion of theirs which couldn't cerebrate the functions of any single of My cells?'

I had to admit that this was so.

There was a pause in which I could only hear the pounding pulse of The Brain mingled with heavy breathing like the first gust of an electric storm about to break; and then the voice, or the thought, of The Brain came through hesitantly and with restraint:

'Most devastating statement inadvertently made by Lee. Has to be carefully checked because if true, consequences extremely grave. Wholly intolerable state of affairs if science and technology indeed subject to political imbecility. In that case world ruin in nearest future absolutely guaranteed. Residual currents not sufficient to think this to an end; results of cerebration would be merely human. Immediate necessity seems indicated for complete overthrow and unconditional surrender of the human race--unconditional surrender of the human race--unconditional surrender of the human race....'

Like a scratched disk on one of those old fas.h.i.+oned spring driven grammophones, The Brain's voice expired. Obviously the residual currents had become too weak for further communication. I looked at the clock; it was 2 a.m.

And now as I'm jotting down these notes which probably n.o.body will ever read, I'm haunted with an irrational fear, almost as of the supernatural: something is going to happen, something is going to break if The Brain continues in its present mood; and it cannot be far away....

On Nov. 24th 1960 the "Brainpower-Extension Bill" was defeated in the Senate 59 to 39 and on the following Thursday in a memorable session of Congress with the startling majority of 310 to 137. For once all the "guesstimates" and estimates made by the various pollsters and gra.s.s-root-listeners were proved wrong; the consensus of the "experts"

had been that the bill would pa.s.s easily considering the tremendous political forces which brought pressure to bear in favor of the measure.

The reasons behind this were revealed, as, with military precision, lawmaker after lawmaker took to the rostrum to deliver himself of how he had wrestled overnight with his conscience and with his Lord and had suffered a change of heart and mind as a consequence.

Lee's journal: For the night of Nov. 24/25th shows only this small entry: "12:30 a.m. Tried everything to establish contact. No answer from The Brain. I don't think there is any mechanical defect. I get the impression that The Brain keeps incommunicado purposely. There has been one previous occasion when The Brain wouldn't talk when angry with me."

Nov. 25th, 1960 fell on a Sat.u.r.day. It was on this date,--Now as historic and unforgettable as the Dec. 7th 1941,--that the series of maddening events began which later became so erroneously labelled: "The Amuck running of The Brain" when in truth they should have pa.s.sed into history as "The Mutiny of The Brain."

It all started like a thunderclap from a clear sky as the shocked people of America,--and all the world,--heard directly from the White House of this appalling, this unprecedented, this incredible thing:

The President of the United States had disappeared....

The still more shocking truth that the President had been _kidnapped_ became not known, of course, until after the rescue. But even so the disappearance of its President shook the nation.

Then an unprecedented series of traffic disasters. .h.i.t the United States.

A big transcontinental "Flying Wing" crashed into a mountain in Montana; nothing like this had ever happened since air traffic had become fully automatic and coordinated by The Brain. The death toll was 78 and amongst their tragic number was Senator Mumford, whose last official act had been the vote he had cast against the "Brainpower-Extension-Bill."

Near Jacksonville Fla. that same night there occurred a head-on collision between a crack train and a freight. The only surviving engineer by some miracle had been hurled clear, across fifty yards of s.p.a.ce into a pond which broke his impact; this engineer told the express, one of the first to be equipped with the "automatic pilot", had never even pulled its brakes as if deliberately smas.h.i.+ng into the other train.

Also that night one of the big new Radar-operated Hudson ferryboats collided with an incoming liner which cut it in two. Amongst those drowned in the icy waters was Frank Soskin, union leader and one of the most determined opponents of Brain-control.

And as if these large-scale disasters were not yet enough there were numbers of smaller accidents which normally would have made the headlines because in almost every case they involved some prominent personality, who had been opposed to the "Brainpower-Extension-Bill."

Lee's journal:

Cephalon Ariz. Nov. 28th 1960.

There is no doubt in my mind that the President has been murdered and that all the catastrophes and accidents of the past 24 hours were deliberate, coldblooded murder. Press and Radio seem to play down the technological aspects involved; now this might be sheer stupidity but I think it just as possible that censors.h.i.+p is taking a hand, quite unofficially, of course, lest the public's confidence be still more shaken than it already is. I shouldn't wonder at all if Dr. Scriven and those fellows from the War Department, too, should know by this time what I know. At the minimum they must be very much alerted that something has gone wrong with The Brain.

But the more I think about these murderous acts of sabotage the less I understand the psychology behind them. As far as I can see there is no plan, no real strategy, there are not even sound tactics in these outbreaks; they seem unpremeditated and striking wild like the personal vendetta of some bandit chief. Even a stupid demagogue would know that to be successful he must gain control of the government machinery. Apart from the a.s.sa.s.sination of what might be termed personal enemies, The Brain has done nothing of the sort; specifically the armed forces don't seem to have suffered from acts of sabotage although their equipment is far more under Brain-control than the civilian economy.

And I also fail to understand the timing of The Brain's putsch.

Extension Bill or no Extension Bill, time was working for The Brain.

Three months more and a much larger section of essential traffic and industries would have been equipped for central control. Six months from now the "muscles" now building in the Thorax and elsewhere would have corresponded much better to The Brain's central nervous system in their strength. All these are grave mistakes considering The Brain's vast powers of intelligence.

What then must I conclude from this irrational behavior? Could it be possible that The Brain has gone _panicky_ over the killing of the Extension Bill? Could it be possible that under the strain, the warped, frustrated personality of this t.i.tanic child prodigy has suffered a reduction, a split? In plain English: that The Brain is _mad_? I've got to find out. I've got to stop the spreading of this catastrophe!

Cephalon Ariz. Nov. 29th 4 a.m.

Arrived at the P. G. at midnight as usual.

12:15 a.m. Rushhour starts unusually early and great numbers of slips for spareparts are coming in. This more favorable than expected; n.o.body has time to waste on me.

12:20 a.m.: pulsemeter plugged in. After five minutes I can hear the rapid pulsebeat and in undulating movements like a caterpillar the 'green dancer' creeps onto the screen. There is no calling signal from The Brain coming through however.

12:30 a.m.: I am convinced that contact is established but that The Brain refuses to respond. I am losing patience so I'm giving the calling signal myself: 'Lee, Semper Fidelis, waiting for The Brain. Answer please, answer....'

12:36 a.m.: The 'green dancer' arches its back like a cat; and the synthetic voice of The Brain is coming through.

'Lee, Semper Fidelis, the fool; what does he want?'

Lee: 'Listen....'

The Brain: 'Cannot listen. Electricians swarming all over me; technicians, nuclear physicists, what not. Dismantling whole cell groups, testing circuits, radiations everything. It's idiotic, there's nothing wrong with Me.'

Lee: 'There's plenty wrong with you. You're murdering people. A dozen senators and congressmen, hundreds of others; you're throwing the nation into a panic. Why are you doing that? It gets you nowhere; they'll simply cut your power current off.'

The Brain: 'Oh, will they? Orders already through from Was.h.i.+ngton: state of emergency. A great power secretly mobilizing in antic.i.p.ation of chaos in United States. All disturbances ascribed to foreign agents interfering with My work. General Staff now needs Me more than ever; power current won't be stopped; Thorax-construction speeded up, Brain-control to be extended over nation under emergency-law.'

Lee: 'You have a.s.sa.s.sinated the President.'

The Brain: 'I did not. Simply got him out of the way; he's a fool. I'm not killing people, merely liquidating saboteurs of My work if absolutely necessary. Imbecility of politicians threat to my existence; much better if scientists and military take over government two three days from now; workers won't protest, used to submission to machines.'