in diameter, built entirely of crystal glass-bricks and steelonium, was
one of the sights of New York. A grateful city, recognizing his genius
and his benefits to humanity, had erected the great tower for him on a
plot where, centuries ago, Union Square had been.
The top of the tower was twice as great in circumference as the main
building, and in this upper part was located the research laboratory,
famous throughout the world. An electromagnetic tube elevator ran down
the tower on one side of the building, all the rooms being circular in
shape, except for the space taken up by the elevator.
Ralph, sitting on the roof of his tower, was oblivious to all about
him. He was unable to dismiss from his mind the lovely face of the
girl whose life he had just been the means of saving. The soft tones
of her voice were in his ears. Heretofore engrossed in his work, his
scientific mind had been oblivious to women. They had played no part in
his life. Science had been his mistress, and a laboratory his home.
And now, in one short half hour, for him the whole world had become a
new place. Two dark eyes, a bewitching pair of lips, a voice that had
stirred the very core of his being--
Ralph shook himself. It was not for him to think of these things, he
told himself. He was but a tool, a tool to advance science, to benefit
humanity. He belonged, not to himself, but to the Government--the
Government, who fed and clothed him, and whose doctors guarded his
health with every precaution. He had to pay the penalty of his +. To be
sure, he had everything. He had but to ask and his wish was law--if it
did not interfere with his work.
There were times he grew restive under the restraint, he longed to
smoke the tobacco forbidden him by watchful doctors, and to indulge
in those little vices which vary the monotony of existence for the
ordinary individual. There were times when he most ardently wished that
he were an ordinary individual.
He was not allowed to make dangerous tests personally, thereby
endangering a life invaluable to the Government. That institution would
supply him with some criminal under sentence of death who would be
compelled to undergo the test for him. If the criminal were killed
during the experiment, nothing was lost; if he did not perish, he would
be imprisoned for life.
Being a true scientist, Ralph wanted to make his own dangerous
experiments. Not to do this took away the very spice of life for him,
and on occasion he rebelled. He would call up the Planet Governor, the
ruler of 15 billion human beings, and demand that he be relieved of his
work.
"I can't stand it," he would protest. "This constraint which I am
forced to endure maddens me, I feel that I am being hampered."
The Governor, a wise man, and a kindly one, would often call upon him
in person, and for a long time they would discuss the question, Ralph
protesting, the Governor reasoning with him.
"I am nothing but a prisoner," Ralph stormed once.
"You are a great inventor," smiled the Governor, "and a tremendous
factor in the world's advancement. You are invaluable to humanity,
and--you are irreplaceable. You belong to the world--not to yourself."
Many times in the past few years he recalled, had the two been over the
same ground, and many times had the diplomatic Governor convinced the
scientist that in sacrifice of self and devotion to the world's future
lay his great reward.
The voice of his manservant interrupted his reverie.
"Sir," he said, "your presence in the transmission-room would be
appreciated."
"What is it?" asked the scientist, impatient at the interruption.
"Sir, the people have heard all about the Switzerland incident of an
hour ago and desire to show their appreciation."
"Well, I suppose I must submit," the inventor rather wearily responded,
and both stepped over into the round steel car of the electromagnetic
elevator. The butler pressed one of the 28 ivory buttons and the car
shot downward, with neither noise nor friction. There were no cables or
guides, the car being held and propelled by magnetism only. At the 22nd
floor the car stopped, and Ralph stepped into the transmission-room.
No sooner had he entered than the deafening applause of hundreds of
thousands of voices greeted him, and he was forced to put his hands to
his ears to muffle the sound.
_Yet, the transmission-room was entirely empty._
Every inch of the wall, however, was covered with large-sized Telephots
and loud-speaking devices.
Centuries ago, when people tendered some one an ovation, they would all
assemble in some great square or large hall. The celebrity would have
to appear in person, else there would be no ovation--truly a clumsy
means. Then, too, in those years, people at a distance could neither
see nor hear what was going on throughout the world.
Ralph's ovation was the result of the enterprise of a news "paper"
which had issued extras about his exploit, and urged its readers to be
connected with him at 5 p.m.
Naturally everyone who could spare the time had called the Teleservice
Company and asked to be connected with the inventor's trunk-line--and
this was the result.
Ralph 124C 41 + stepped into the middle of the room and bowed to
the four points of the compass, in order that all might see him
perfectly. The noise was deafening, and as it rather grew in volume
than diminished he beseechingly held up his hands. In a few seconds the
applause ceased and some one cried--"Speech!"
Ralph spoke briefly, thanking his audience for their interest, and
touching but lightly upon his rescue of the young Swiss girl, begged
his hearers to remember that in no way had he risked his life and
therefore could scarcely be called a hero.
Vociferous cries of "No, no," told him that no one shared his humble
opinion of the achievement.
It was at this juncture that Ralph's attention was caught by two
persons in the audience. There were so many thousands of faces on each
plate that nearly every countenance was blurred, due to their constant
movement. (He himself, however, was clearly seen by them, as each one
had switched on their "reversers," making it possible to see only the
object at the end of the line.)
To Ralph, the shifting, clouded appearance of his audience was a
commonplace.
This was not the first time that he had been called upon to receive the
thanks of the multitude for some unusual service he had rendered them,
or some surprising scientific feat he had successfully accomplished.
While realizing that he must of necessity yield to public adulation, it
more or less bored him.
He was not particularly interested in the crowd, either collectively
or individually, and as there were so many faces crowded into each
faceplate he made no attempt to distinguish friends from strangers.
Yet there were two faces among the numerous Telephot faceplates
that Ralph in making his brief speech, found his eyes returning to
again and again. Each occupied the whole of a respective faceplate
and while dissimilar in appearance, nevertheless were markedly alike
in expression. It was as if they were studying this great scientist,
endeavoring to fix in their minds a permanent picture of him. Ralph
sensed no animosity in their steady almost hypnotic gaze and yet they
were curiously apart from the enthusiastic throng. He felt as though he
were, to both of them, under the microscope.
One of the faces was that of a man in his early thirties. It was a
handsome face, though, to the close observer, the eyes were set just
a trifle too near together, and the mouth betrayed cunning and had a
touch of viciousness.
The other was not a Terrestrial, but a visiting Martian. It was
impossible to mistake the distinctly Martian cast of countenance. The
great black horse eyes in the long, melancholy face, the elongated
slightly pointed ears were proof enough. Martians in New York were not
sufficiently rare to excite any particular comment. Many made that city
their permanent home, although the law on the planet Earth, as well as
on Mars, which forbade the intermarriage of Martians and Terrestrials,
kept them from flocking earthwards in any great numbers.
In the applause that followed the conclusion of Ralph's words the
incident of the two pairs of scrutinizing eyes vanished from his
thoughts. But his sub-conscious self, that marvelous mechanism which
forgets nothing, had photographed them indelibly. With the plaudits of
the crowd still ringing he bowed and left the room.
He went, via the elevator, directly to his library, and asked for the
afternoon news.
His man handed him a tray on which lay a piece of material _as large as
a postage stamp_, as transparent and flexible as celluloid.
"What edition is this?" he asked.
"The 5 o'clock _New York News_,[1] sir."
Ralph took the "News" and placed it in a metal holder which was part
of the hinged door of a small box. He closed the door and turned on
a switch on the side of the box. Immediately there appeared on the
opposite white wall of the room, a twelve-column page of the _New York
News_ and the scientist, leaning back in his chair, proceeded to read.
The _New York News_ was simply a microscopic reduction of a page,
which, when enlarged by a powerful lens, became plainly visible.
Moreover, each paper had eight "pages," in separate sheets, as was the
fashion centuries ago, but eight pages literally on top of each other.
The printing process was electrolytic, no ink whatsoever being used in
the manufacture of the "newspaper." This process was invented in 1910
by an Englishman, and improved by the American 64L 52 in 2031, who made
it possible to "print" _in one operation_ eight different subjects,
_one on top of another_.
These eight impressions could be made visible only by subjecting the
"paper" to different colors, the color rays bringing out the different
prints. The seven colors of the rainbow were used, while white light
was employed to show reproduced photographs, etc., in their natural
colors. With this method it was possible to "print" a "newspaper,"
fully ten times as large in volume as any newspaper of the 21st
century, on a piece of film, the size of a postage-stamp.
Each paper published an edition every 30 minutes, and if one did not
possess a projector, one could read the "paper" by inserting the _News_
in a holder beneath a powerful lens which one carried in one's pocket,
folded when not in use. To read the eight different pages, a revolving
color screen was placed directly underneath the lens, to bring out the
different colors necessary to read the "paper."
Ralph, 124C 41+, glancing over the head-lines of his _News_, saw that
considerable space was given to his latest exploit, the paper showing
actual photographs of the Swiss Alpine scene, which a correspondent had
taken as the avalanche thundered down the mountain. The photographs
had been sent by _Teleradiograph_ immediately after the occurrence
in Switzerland, and the _News_ had printed them in all the _natural_
colors twenty minutes after Ralph had turned off the ultra-power in New
York.
These photographs seemed to be the only thing that interested Ralph,
as they showed the house and the surrounding Alps. These, with the
monstrous avalanche in progression photographed and reproduced in the
natural colors, were very impressive.
Presently he revolved the color screen of his projector to green--the
technical page of the _News_--to him the most interesting reading in
the paper.
He soon had read all that interested him, and as there was still an
hour before dinner time he began to "write" his lecture: "On the
prolongation of animal life by π-Rays."
He attached a double leather head-band to his head. At each end of
the band was attached a round metal disc that pressed closely on the
temples. From each metal disc an insulated wire led to a small square
box, the _Menograph_, or mind-writer.
He then pressed a button and a low humming was heard; simultaneously
two small bulbs began to glow with a soft green fluorescent light.
Grasping a button connected with a flexible cord to the Menograph, he
leaned back in his chair.
After a few minutes' reflection he pressed the button, and at once a
wave line, traced in ink, appeared on a narrow white fabric band, the
latter resembling a telegraph recorder tape.
The band which moved rapidly, was unrolled from one reel and rolled up
on another. Whenever the inventor wished to "write" down his thoughts,
he would press the button, which started the mechanism as well as the
recording tracer.
(Below is shown the record of a Menograph, the piece of tape being
actual size.
[Illustration:
I N--OLD EN--T I M ES--]
Where the wave line breaks, a new word or sentence commences; the three
words shown are the result of the thought which expresses itself in the
words, "_In olden times_." ...)
The Menograph was one of Ralph 124C 41+'s earliest inventions, and
entirely superseded the pen and pencil. It was only necessary to press
the button when an idea was to be recorded and to release the button
when one reflected and did not wish the thought-words recorded.
Instead of writing a letter, one sent the recorded _Menotape_, and
inasmuch as the Menolphabet was universal and could be read by
anyone--children being taught it at an early age--it was considered
that this invention of Ralph's was one of his greatest gifts to
humanity: Twenty times as much work could be done by means of the
Menograph as could be done by the old-fashioned writing, which required
considerable physical effort. Typewriters soon disappeared after its
invention. Nor was there any use for stenographers, as the thoughts
were written down direct on the tape, which was sent out as a letter
was sent centuries ago.
As was his custom in the evening he worked for some hours in the
laboratory, and retired at midnight. Before he fell asleep he attached
to his head a double leather head-band with metal temple plates,
similar to the one used in connection with the Menograph.
He then called for his man, Peter, and told him to "put on" Homer's
_Odyssey_ for the night.
Peter went down to the library on the 15th floor, and took down from a
shelf a narrow box, labeled _Odyssey, Homer_. From this he extracted
a large but thin reel on which was wound a long narrow film. This
film was entirely black but for a white transparent wave-line running
through the center of it.
Peter returning to Ralph's bedroom placed the reel containing the film
in a rack and introduced the end of the film into the _Hypnobioscope_.
This wonderful instrument, invented by Ralph, transmitted the impulses
of the wave-line direct to the brain of the sleeping inventor, who
thus was made to "dream" the _Odyssey_.
It had been known for centuries that the brain could be affected during
sleep by certain processes. Thus one could be forced to dream that a
heavy object was lying on one's chest, if such an object was placed on
the sleeper's chest. Or one could be forced to dream that one's hand
was being burnt or frozen, simply by heating or cooling the sleeper's
hand.
It remained to Ralph, however, to perfect the Hypnobioscope, which
transmitted words direct to the sleeping brain, in such a manner that
everything could be remembered in detail the next morning.
This was made possible by having the impulses _act directly and
steadily on the brain_. In other words, it was the Menograph reversed,
with certain additions.
Thus, while in a passive state, the mind absorbed the impressions
quite readily and mechanically and a story "read" by means of the
Hypnobioscope left a much stronger impression than if the same story
had been read while conscious.
For thousands of years humanity had wasted half of its life during
sleep--the negative life. Since Ralph's invention, all this was
changed. Not one night was lost by anyone if anywhere possible,
conditions permitting. All books were read while one slept. _Most
of the studying was done while one slept._ Some people mastered
ten languages, during their sleep-life. Children who could not be
successfully taught in school during their hours of consciousness,
became good scholars if the lessons were repeated during their
sleep-life.
The morning "newspapers" were transmitted to the sleeping subscribers
by wire at about 5 a.m. The great newspaper offices had hundreds of
Hypnobioscopes in operation, the subscriber's wire leading to them.
The newspaper office, notified by each subscriber what kind of news is
desirable, furnished only such news. Consequently, when the subscriber
woke up for breakfast he already knew the latest news, and could
discuss it with his family, the members of which were also connected
with the newspaper Hypnobioscope.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: At the time this was written there was no newspaper of
that name.]
3
DEAD OR ALIVE?
An apologetic cough came through the entrance to the laboratory. It was
nearing one o'clock of the following day.
Several minutes later it was repeated, to the intense annoyance of the
scientist, who had left orders that he was not to be interrupted in his
work under any circumstances.
At the third "ahem!" he raised his head and stared fixedly at the empty
space between the doorjambs. The most determined optimist could not
have spelled welcome in that look.
Peter, advancing his neck around the corner until one eye met that of
his master, withdrew it hastily.
"Well, what is it?" came from the laboratory, in an irritated harsh
voice.
Peter, in the act of retreating on tiptoe, turned, and once more
cocked a solitary eye around the door-jamb. This one feature had the
beseeching look of a dog trying to convey by his expression that not
for worlds would he have got in the way of your boot.
"Beg pardon, sir, but there's a young--"
"Won't see him!"
"But, sir, it's a young lady--"
"I'm busy, get out!"
Peter gulped desperately. "The young lady from--"
At this moment Ralph pressed a button nearby, an electromagnet acted,
and a heavy plate glass door slid down from above, almost brushing
Peter's melancholy countenance, terminating the conversation summarily.
Having secured himself against further interruption Ralph returned
to the large glass box over which he had been working, and in which
one could see, through greenish vapors, a dog, across whose heart was
strapped a flat glass box filled with a metal-like substance.
The substance in the box was Radium-K. Radium, which had been known for
centuries, had the curious property of giving out heat for thousands of
years without disintegrating and without apparently obtaining energy
from any outside source.
In 2009, Anatole M610 B9, the great French physicist, found that
Radium obtained all its energy from the ether of space and proved that
Radium was one of the few substances having a very strong affinity
for the ether. Radium, he found, attracted the ether violently and
the latter surging back and forward through the Radium became charged
electrically, presenting all the other well known phenomena.
Anatole M610 B9 compared the action of Radium on the ether with that
of a magnet acting upon a piece of iron. He proved this theory by
examining a piece of pure metallic Radium in an etherless space,
whereupon it lost all its characteristics and acted like a piece of
ordinary metal.
Radium-K, as used by Ralph, was not pure Radium, but an alloy composed
of Radium and Argonium. This alloy exhibited all the usual phenomena
of pure Radium and produced great heat, but did not create burns on
animal tissue. It could be handled freely and without danger.
The dog lying in the glass box had been "dead" for three years. Just
three years previous, in the presence of twenty noted scientists Ralph
124C 41+ had exhibited a live dog and had proceeded to drain off _all_
its blood till the dog was pronounced quite dead and its heart had
stopped beating. Thereupon he had refilled the empty blood vessels of
the animal with a weak solution of Radium-K bromide, and the large
artery through which the solution was pumped into the body had been
closed.
The flat box containing Radium-K was then strapped over the dog's heart
and it was placed in the large glass case. The latter was filled with
_Permagatol_, a green gas having the property of preserving animal
tissue permanently and indefinitely. The purpose of the box containing
Radium-K was to keep the temperature of the dog's body at a fixed point.
After the case was completely filled with gas, the glass cover was
sealed in such a manner that it was impossible to open the case without
breaking the seals. The scientists had agreed to return after a lapse
of three years to witness the opening of the box.
There were several delicate instruments inside the box and these were
connected by means of wires to recording instruments on the side, and
these Ralph inspected twice each day. Throughout the three years the
"dead" dog had never stirred a muscle. His temperature had not varied
1/100 of a degree and his respiratory functions had shown no signs of
life. To all intents and purposes the dog was "dead."
The time was close at hand for the final stages of what Ralph
considered to be his greatest experiment. Three years ago when he faced
his fellow scientists at the end of the first stage of this work, he
electrified them by announcing that he expected to prove that this
dog, which they had all pronounced "dead," could be restored to life,
unharmed, unchanged, with no more effects upon the dog's spirits,
habits, and nature, than had the animal taken but a short nap.
For three years this experiment of Ralph 124C 41+ had been the subject
of innumerable scientific papers, had been discussed intermittently in
the newspapers and the date of the final phase of the great experiment
was fixed in the mind of every human being on the planet.
If the experiment succeeded it meant the prolongation of human life
over greater periods of the earth's history than had ever been
possible. It meant that premature death except through accident would
be ended.
Would he succeed? Had he attempted the impossible? Was he challenging
Nature to a combat only to be worsted?
These thoughts obtruded themselves into his consciousness as he began
the preparations for the great test of the afternoon. He pumped out
the Permagatol from the box until the green vapor had completely
disappeared. With infinite care he then forced a small quantity of
oxygen into the box. The instruments recording the action of the
respiratory organs indicated that the oxygen reaching the dog's lungs
had stimulated respiration.
This being all he could do for the present, he pressed the button
that raised the glass barrier, and summoned Peter by means of another
button.
That individual, looking a trifle more melancholy than usual, responded
at once.
"Well my boy," said Ralph good-humoredly, "the stage is all set for the
experiment that will set the whole world by the ears.--But you don't
look happy, Peter. What's troubling your dear old soul?"
Peter, whose feelings had evidently been lacerated when the door had
been lowered in his face, replied with heavy dignity.
"Beg pardon, sir, but the young lady is still waiting."
"What young lady?" asked Ralph.
"The young lady from Switzerland, sir."
"The--which?"
"The young lady from Switzerland, sir, and her father, sir. They've
been waiting half an hour."
If a bomb had exploded that instant Ralph could not have been more
astounded.
"She's here--and you didn't call me? Peter, there are times when I am
tempted to throw you out--"
"Pardon sir," replied Peter firmly, "I made bold to assume that you
might be interested in the young lady's arrival, and presumed to step
into the laboratory to so inform--"
But his master had gone, shedding his laboratory smock as he went.
Peter, gathering his dignity about him as a garment, reached the
doorway in time to see the elevator slide downwards out of sight.
And in it, Ralph, his heart thumping in a most undignified way, was
acting more like a schoolboy than a master of science. He twitched at
his tie with one hand and smoothed his hair with the other, peering
into the elevator's little mirror anxiously. Discovering a smudge on
his cheek he checked the car between floors while he wiped away the
spot with his handkerchief.