Bewildering Stories
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Excerpt from “Logic Is a Halfway House”
Anton had expected a larger room, and better lighting. Bad enough he had agreed to join them in the first place.
“My boy, we could do it in a closet, if we had to! Come on, help me set up.” Sellers hadn’t changed, the same old pat-on-the-back joviality, full of himself and making sure everyone else would be, too.
The building had been selected because it lay on the outskirts of the base but still well within the electric fence, isolated but with medical facilities available. Not that they’d need them, of course. According to Sellers, he never failed. Besides, it was a game, not really an experiment, he reminded Anton.
Two women entered the room. So they’d have the foursome.
“Anton, let me call you Tony for once, to hell with it, Tony it is, I want you to meet our fellow players. I wish there were another word I could use. But then, did you know that the origin of ‘fellow’ is the word ‘feolaga’, which means simply ‘partner’? Hmmm, I don’t know where I picked that up, but it is so.
“And that’s what we are, partners in a most interesting enterprise. Here, Tony, is Jeanine Torres, our resident expert in bioevolution, and Samantha Karig, first ‘fellow’ of anthropology who has spent quite a few years studying the Australian aborigine dreamtime phenomena; very interesting conclusions. Ladies, let me present Anton Tony-for-short Cantrill, who has agreed to try out my little invention.”
Wishing desperately he were somewhere else, anywhere away from Sellers, but unwilling to make a scene in the presence of the women, Anton greeted them civilly.
“Colin has told us something of your work, Tony. He’s quite proud of your success with multiple personalities,” said Jeanine, holding out her hand.
“Mechanistic, the man still insists on it, as if quanta had never arrived. But he’s come up with some interesting psychological studies, though, and yes, I am proud of him!” Sellers looked fondly at him.
As if I’m some kind of pet, Anton thought. “I think that we can’t simply dismiss cause and effect,” Anton said to Jeanine, taking her hand briefly. Her fingers were covered with rings of silver and turquoise, and around her neck were heavy ropes of multicolored beads. Ostentatious, he thought. Inelegant.
Samantha approached him. She seemed to be hardly more than a child.
“Surely there’s an age limit to this… game of yours?” he asked Sellers, who was busily outlining a white square in the middle of the tiled floor.
“What? Oh, Samantha, you mean. Of course there is, but don’t be fooled. Tell him how old you are, Sam.”
“Fifty-seven, at last count. Yes, I think that’s right,” she answered, smiling. “I’ve been on so many of these adventures of Colin’s that I lose track. It doesn’t matter, anyway, in the end.”
“End? What end? Don’t give away the secret. I want Tony to discover everything for himself. Imagine the glory — Sellers sells psychologist on secrets of the universe… not to mention the fountain of youth… I’ll be famous at last.”
It was too much. Anton started for the door.
“Hey, ho, Tony, can’t be done. The seal is set, we’ve already begun!”
“I’ve changed my mind, Sellers,” Anton said. “I have no intention of entering this game of yours. I don’t know what made me agree to come here with you in the first place.” In spite of himself, the old hatred surfaced. He saw the look of astonishment on Sellers’ face, then dismay.
“I see. Hmmm. It still holds, though, you know. There’s no way to stop it now. I certainly hope eventually to engineer better controls that way, but right now, it’s a forward-only deal until we’re done and back.” He finished the square and immediately Jeanine and Samantha walked to it, each standing on a different edge, their backs to one another.
“What are you talking about?” said Anton.
“Come on, it won’t hurt. I can promise we’ll be back here in ah, a microsecond at the most. No problem. You may as well make the attempt. You’re in the room, and we can’t do it without you. Takes four, always takes four to get the best results. Don’t know why, yet.”
“You know the objective?” Jeanine inquired of Anton.
“No,” said Anton. And I don’t care, he thought.
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Book categories: Science Fiction and Short Stories