For thousands of years the big brain served as a
master switchboard for the thoughts
and emotions of humanity.
Now the central mind was showing signs of decay
... and men went mad.
Illustrated by BIRMINGHAM
The trouble began in a seeminglytrivial way. Connor hadwanted to speak to Rhoda, hiswife, wished himself onto a trunkline and then waited. "DallasShipping here, Mars and pointsJupiterward, at your service,"said a business-is-business, unwifelyvoice in his mind.
"I was not calling you," hethought back into the line, nowalso getting a picture, first flat,then properly 3-D and in color. Itwas a paraNormally luxuriouscommercial office.
"I am the receptionist at DallasShipping," the womanthought back firmly. "You rangand I answered."
"I'm sure I rang right," Connorinsisted.
"And I'm sure I know my job,"Dallas Shipping answered. "Ihave received as many as fivehundred thought messages a day,some of them highly detailed andtechnical and—"
"Forget it," snapped Connor."Let's say I focussed wrong."
He pulled back and twenty secondslater finally had Rhoda onthe line. "Queerest thing happened,"he projected. "I just gota wrong party."
"Nothing queer about it," hiswife smiled, springing to warmlife on his inner eye. "You justweren't concentrating, Connor."
"Don't you hand me that too,"he grumbled. "I know I thoughton the right line into Central.Haven't I been using the Systemfor sixty years?"
"Exactly—all habit and no attention."
How smugly soothing she wassome days! "I think the trouble'sin Central itself. The Switcherisn't receiving me clearly."
"Lately I've had some peculiarmiscalls myself," Rhoda saidnervously. "But you can't blameCentral Switching!"
"Oh, I didn't mean that!" Bynow he was equally nervous andonly too happy to end the conversation.Ordinarily communicationswere not monitored but ifthis one had been there couldcertainly be a slander complaint.
On his way home in the monorailConnor tried to reach hisoffice and had the frightening experienceof having his telepathiccall refused by Central. Then herefused in turn to accept a callbeing projected at him, but whenan Urgent classification was addedhe had to take it. "For yourunfounded slander of CentralSwitching's functioning," announcedthe mechanically-synthesizedvoice, "you are herebySuspended indefinitely from thetelepathic net. From this pointon all paraNormal privileges arewithdrawn and you will be ableto communicate with your fellowsonly in person or by writtenmessage."
Stunned, Connor looked aboutat his fellow passengers. Most ofthem had their eyes closed andtheir faces showed the mild littlesmile which was the outer hallmarkof a mind at rest, tuned into a music channel or some otherof the hundreds of entertainmentlines available from Central.How much he had taken that forgranted just a few minutes ago!
Three men, more shabbilydressed, were unsmilingly readingbooks. They were fellowpariahs, Suspended for one reasonor another from paraNormalprivileges. Only the dullest, lowest-payingjobs were available tothem while anyone inside theSystem could have Central readany book and transmit the informationdirectly into his cortex.The shabbiest one of all lookedup and his sympathetic glanceshowed that he had instantlygrasped Connor's changed situation.
Connor looked hastily away;he didn't want any sympathyfrom that kind of 'human' being!Then he shudde