The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cerebrum, by Albert Teichner

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: Cerebrum

Author: Albert Teichner

Illustrator: Lloyd Birmingham

Release Date: October 3, 2008 [EBook #26761]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CEREBRUM ***

Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

CEREBRUM

By ALBERT TEICHNER

_For thousands of years the big brain served as a
master switchboard for the thoughts
and emotions of humanity.
Now the central mind was showing signs of decay
... and men went mad._

Illustrated by BIRMINGHAM

[Illustration]

The trouble began in a seemingly trivial way. Connor had wanted to speak
to Rhoda, his wife, wished himself onto a trunk line and then waited.
"Dallas Shipping here, Mars and points Jupiterward, at your service,"
said a business-is-business, unwifely voice in his mind.

"I was not calling you," he thought back into the line, now also getting
a picture, first flat, then properly 3-D and in color. It was a
paraNormally luxurious commercial office.

"I am the receptionist at Dallas Shipping," the woman thought back
firmly. "You rang and I answered."

"I'm sure I rang right," Connor insisted.

"And I'm sure I know my job," Dallas Shipping answered. "I have received
as many as five hundred thought messages a day, some of them highly
detailed and technical and--"

"Forget it," snapped Connor. "Let's say I focussed wrong."

He pulled back and twenty seconds later finally had Rhoda on the line.
"Queerest thing happened," he projected. "I just got a wrong party."

"Nothing queer about it," his wife smiled, springing to warm life on his
inner eye. "You just weren't concentrating, Connor."

"Don't you hand me that too," he grumbled. "I _know_ I thought on the
right line into Central. Haven't I been using the System for sixty
years?"

"Exactly--all habit and no attention."

How smugly soothing she was some days! "I think the trouble's in Central
itself. The Switcher isn't receiving me clearly."

"Lately I've ha