* * * * * When Glassman returned an hour later, to all outward appearances he was unchanged, except that he made no mention of the deaths of Basil and Irene. Nor did he say anything about suspending Earl and Nadine. From his own experience Earl knew that one part of Glassman was raging against his mental prison, perhaps feeling the sadistic torture with which the Cyberene kept him chained. By a supreme effort Earl pulled himself away from thinking about what had happened. It multiplied his determination to free himself enough to defeat the Cyberene and destroy it. But raging impotently against the Brain's control wouldn't accomplish a thing. Little by little he willed himself back to a frame of thought where he could reach out into his conscious mind again, matching his thoughts and moods with it. It had somehow "forgotten" much of what had happened to Basil and Irene and Glassman. It was thinking about Nadine. Earl thought about her too. She loved him. She didn't know what love was, but it was there, revealed in the brief moment she had been free to express herself. Was that love now making her try to overthrow the slavery of the Cyberene? Probably not. She was conditioned to accept that inhuman intellect as her master. Earl shoved the real Nadine from his thoughts and dwelt on the Nadine that was manifest. She was easy to love too--and why not? She was everything that the true Nadine was--except that she was not the _complete_ Nadine. She was falling in love with him too. And his own conscious mind was in love with her. Why not make the most of it? He inserted the idea into his conscious thoughts, and to his delight no alarm bells rang. The Cyberene didn't interfere. "Let's go to a dance tonight after work," he said. "A dance? I don't know how to dance." "I'll teach you. It isn't hard to pick up." "All right," Nadine said. Earl worked hard the rest of the day. Tank trucks were bringing the nerve fluid to the Dome in a never ending stream. Every load had to be tested before it was unloaded into the storage tanks, to make sure its quality was up to standard. One five thousand gallon load could contaminate it all. At six o'clock he was relieved of his work. He dressed eagerly, finding no difficulty in _meshing_ one hundred per cent with the desires of his conscious mind. He picked up Nadine at her hotel. Crestmont boasted only two places worth going. One was just a dance floor, the other The Barn, with a small orchestra and dinners. "The orchestra isn't as good here at The Barn," Earl said when they went in, "but we can have a table and enjoy ourselves." They ordered their dinner. The orchestra started playing and soon the floor was fairly crowded. Earl took Nadine's hand and led her to the dance floor. After a few steps she discovered that she could dance quite easily. It delighted her.