* * * * * _The ruby rolled across the table and fell to the floor._ He rubbed his aching head. He had lived approximately thirty years at ten-minute intervals, but the headache had started and grown in intensity during the last year and it was difficult to recall and appreciate all the things he had done. * * * * * _The ruby rolled...._ How many years had he lived? Fifty? A hundred? He was unable to calculate it any more, and it was even difficult to think about much simpler things. His mind was filled with memories ... millions ... billions ... trillions of endless, countless memories without any sleep to relax his mind ... with no rest at all.... * * * * * _The ruby...._ He no longer moved about the apartment, but sat in the chair during every cycle and watched the ruby as it rolled endlessly. Memories were like a crushing, paralyzing weight in his mind ... a weight that grew and grew and.... The old Martian he had killed would have his revenge. He realized the ingenious machine was much more than a gift or a death-trap. It was a torture machine. A torture machine that would operate for centuries; a machine that would gradually crush his mind and kill him with the sheer weight of _memories_.... He screamed.