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 censorship 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 assassination 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 titanic 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; nobody
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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