COUNSELOR: Mr. Arnold! If you please, sir! (_Waits for Arnold to subside._) I can appreciate how this discovery distresses you, both--ah--personally and in your official capacity, but be assured that your findings will be of inestimable value to future security. In fact (_smiles slightly_) Council has not been idle in its own pursuit of Mr. Beardsley's vagaries! (_Rises, removes a small screen to reveal a towering pile of tomes._) And now, Mr. Beardsley. I must really ask you to cooperate; I believe you fully capable. Are these your books? BEARDSLEY (_adjusts his glasses, smiles at his books_): Yes. COUNSELOR: And these charts, these graphs that we found plastered to every wall of your home. Obviously they are also yours. BEARDSLEY (_adjusts his glasses, smiles at his graphs_): Yes. COUNSELOR: Thank you, Mr. Beardsley. That's fine. And, Mr. Beardsley, what did you use them for? These books, these graphs? BEARDSLEY (_groping, bewildered_): I--I-- COUNSELOR (_sees the futility of it_): Gentlemen, I believe we can proceed on the grounds of self-evidence. Let me read you a few titles from these books. "The Cybernetic Principle: Advanced Theory" ... "The Synapse in Function" ... and here we have "Synaptics: Pattern and Flux." There are more, many more in similar vein. (_Turns abruptly._) Mr. Arnold. I'm sure you are familiar with most of these volumes. On the basis of the content, would you say that you could duplicate Beardsley's feat? ARNOLD (_aghast_): No! I would not presume to say that, sir. COUNSELOR (_frowns; it was not the answer he wanted_): Very well, then. Dr. Trstensky ... would you come forward, please? Dr. Trstensky ... you are head of the Department of Advanced Cybernetics at Cal Tech. You have had opportunity to study these graphs and charts in minutest detail-- TRSTENSKY: Oh, yes-s. Fascinating! COUNSELOR: I put the question: would it be possible for you to duplicate the grotesque feat that Beardsley performed on ECAIAC? TRSTENSKY: Yes-s, possibly. No, I will say definitely. You mean, of course, cold, from the beginning? Yes-s ... but it would take me approximately three-to-four years. COUNSELOR: Yes, Mr. Beardsley? What is it? You would like to make a pertinent statement? BEARDSLEY (_abashed_): Oh. It--I only wanted to say it took me longer. Four-to-five years. COUNSELOR (_wearily--just waits for laughter to subside_): Gentlemen, I think we may safely wrap it up now. Our function here is Disposition. Our choice is two-fold. One: the subject is sane, in which case he will pay the supreme penalty for murder which he has freely admitted. Or two: he is obviously insane, in which case he will be subjected to Psychic Probe as provided by law, thus restoring a measure of normalcy sufficient to place him again in society--restricted, of course--