Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net CEREBRUM By ALBERT TEICHNER _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 [Illustration] The trouble began in a seemingly trivial way. Connor had wanted to speak to Rhoda, his wife, wished himself onto a trunk line and then waited. "Dallas Shipping here, Mars and points Jupiterward, at your service," said a business-is-business, unwifely voice in his mind. "I was not calling you," he thought back into the line, now also getting a picture, first flat, then properly 3-D and in color. It was a paraNormally luxurious commercial office. "I am the receptionist at Dallas Shipping," the woman thought back firmly. "You rang and I answered." "I'm sure I rang right," Connor insisted. "And I'm sure I know my job," Dallas Shipping answered. "I have received as many as five hundred thought messages a day, some of them highly detailed and technical and--" "Forget it," snapped Connor. "Let's say I focussed wrong." He pulled back and twenty seconds later finally had Rhoda on the line. "Queerest thing happened," he projected. "I just got a wrong party." "Nothing queer about it," his wife smiled, springing to warm life on his inner eye. "You just weren't concentrating, Connor." "Don't you hand me that too," he grumbled. "I _know_ I thought on the right line into Central. Haven't I been using the System for sixty years?" "Exactly--all habit and no attention." How smugly soothing she was some days! "I think the trouble's in Central itself. The Switcher isn't receiving me clearly." "Lately I've had some peculiar miscalls myself," Rhoda said nervously. "But you _can't_ blame Central Switching!" "Oh, I didn't mean that!" By now he was equally nervous and only too happy to end the conversation. Ordinarily communications were not monitored but if this one had been there could certainly be a slander complaint. * * * On his way home in the monorail Connor tried to reach his office and had the frightening experience of having his telepathic call refused by Central. Then he refused in turn to accept a call being projected at him, but when an Urgent classification was added he had to take it. "For your unfounded slander of Central Switching's functioning," announced the mechanically-synthesized voice, "you are hereby Suspended indefinitely from the telepathic net. From this point on all paraNormal privileges are withdrawn and you will be able to communicate with your fellows only in person or by written message."