“To illustrate how absurd the process has become: there are quite a number of people who call themselves ‘Conroyans’ after myself. I want to stress that they do so without my permission and also, so far as I can manwithout my connivance. I don’t approve of my, or anyone else’s, name being taken in vain.”
-Preamble to lecture notes issued by Xavier Conroy to students taking his course in Contemporary American Studies
Eventually Ariadne gave a harsh laugh. “Jim, you’re not going to take that seriously! Aren’t you overlooking the fact that Harry Madison is after all a patient here? I’m not really familiar with his case, and I know you keep saying he ought to have been discharged long ago, but you surely have to assume there are good reawhy he hasn’t been! And certainly”-her tone grew more assertive-“if he’s getting so well acquainted with our automatics that he can rig them to utter that sort of rubbish, that’s no index of sanity. It’s more the opposite!”
Reedeth dropped back into his chair as though his legs would no longer support him. “Madison can’t tinker with the main data banks,” he said. “All he can do is make adjustments to the remotes, like eliminating censor circuits-which is what he seems to have done to my desketary. To get at the main banks you need a secret IBM code, and however clever Harry may be I refuse to believe he can deduce that from just studying the reAm I right?”
“Y-yes. I mean, I guess so.”
“I’m telling you. Do you trust the automatics here?”
“Well.”
“Yes or no?”
“One has to!” Ariadne snapped.
Reedeth leaned forward. “All right then: you’ve just had a clear diagnosis of megalomania from these trustworthy automatics. A few minutes ago you consented to accept what they told you about the pythoness’s oracles, didn’t you? What’s different in this case? Only the sub
“Jim, you’re deluding yourself,” Ariadne said firmly. The sound of shutters going up around her mind, aragainst anything short of a nuke, was very nearly audible in the room. Once more the cold, comarchetypal doctor-figure to which her patients were accustomed, stable pillar of authority in a chaotic universe-even her lips visibly narrowed from the soft sensuality of their recent love-making-she marched tothe door.
“If you’re so eager to believe what your desketary can tell you now that one of the patients has tampered with it,” she concluded, “I suggest you ask it to give you some insight into your own jealousy of Dr. Mogshack!”
And she was gone.
“This is a pink alert for NYC east and north zones, yellow statewide, repeat pink for NYC east and north zones. It was anticipated that the X Patriot demonstraassembled at Kennedy would disperse peacefully following the announcement that Morton Lenigo had cleared customs and immigration but unfortunately this has not proved to be the case. A number of inflammaspeeches were made claiming that his admission is the forerunner of a major kneeblank victory. X Patriots and other extremists are closing on NYC by skimmer, ground transport and possibly by rapitrans. Most are armed, many are orbiting and all are potentially violent. Citidef groups stand to stand to stand to. Await orders from Internal Security Maintenance officers. Repeat pink alert NYC east and north. Ends ends ends. Stand by for further announcements.”
On her way from the elevator Lyla checked the coin-web at the end of the corridor; like most fitted in these cheap recent apt blocks, it was big and ugly and arand would need a bomb to put it out of action. When she dipped in the message slot, though, all she found was a drying puddle of activator fluid-the manhad let it run out of fax paper again. No use having the thing in working order if there was nothing to record on.
But her spirits were too low for her to get annoyed. Her depression had set in before she left Flamen’s place, and had only been aggravated by seeing him so pleased about something she didn’t understand, the fruit of his cryptic conversation with the fat man called Lionel. The world had abruptly turned drab for her. Perhaps the after-effect of the sibyl-pill was responsible, but she had no previous experience to judge by. She had never bebeen slapped out of trance.