"But you do want to make millions from the Y Hormone. And you want to
enjoy it with a clear conscience. Perhaps it's as you say--there may
be other factors involved. By knowing what they are you may be able to
negate their influence." Staghorn's voice was a soft purr as he took
Dr. Peccary's arm and urged him into the transmitter unit. Peccary sat
down. The seat was small and hard.
"Just bear one thing in mind," Staghorn said. "Don't get lost. It will
be best if you stay in the little park where I can see you and where
you'll be in focus. Unless you're in focus it might be impossible
to--ah--disengage you."
Dr. Peccary could find no meaning whatsoever in this statement, except
confirmation of his suspicion that Staghorn was mad. He felt this so
strongly that he started to rise from his seat and escape from the
transmitter cell. But at that moment Staghorn lowered the helmet onto
his head. The sensation he experienced was so novel and startling that
he remained seated. For a second or two he could feel the tiny metallic
contacts on the inside of the helmet pressing against his skull, but
this sensation of physical pressure vanished almost at once. It was
replaced by one of headlessness. His body up to his chin still seemed
to be sitting in the transmitter--but his intellect had lost completely
its sense of localization in the head.
He could think clearly enough, but had no notion as to the spot where
his thoughts originated. Indeed, the whole concept of relative position
seemed ridiculous. At the same instant he felt tall as a mountain and
as low as a rug. His mind could fill the entire universe, while resting
neatly in a thimble. He could also see Staghorn, for his eyes continued
to function and transmit optical patterns, but precisely where he was
while receiving these patterns he couldn't possibly say.
He heard Staghorn remark, "Fine. The connection is perfect. It's always
better when the subject is bald. I'm going to switch you over into
Humanac's circuits now."
Staghorn's hand moved across the controls and one of his long fingers
flipped a switch.
* * * * *
This was the last Dr. Peccary saw of Roger Staghorn. Instantly he found
himself standing in the center of the small park in his home town. His
reaction was not one of alarm. Quite to the contrary, his immediate
thought was one of surprise that he wasn't alarmed. Standing there in
the little square felt entirely normal and proper.
Next he was jolted by the realization that he must be an image on
Humanac's screen. He quickly looked about in all directions, half
expecting to see Staghorn's huge face peering down from the sky like
God. There was no sign of Staghorn, however. The world about him was
as three-dimensional as any he'd ever known. He was in his home town a
hundred years after he'd last seen it.
Good lord! He was a hundred and forty-two years old!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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