“Oh? Have you had courses in psychonics?”
The newsman laughed. “No, but I understand all about this dream-machine business.”
Pacing slowly by the empty control desk and peering up at the dueling machine’s bulky consoles and power conditioners, he asked, “How can you be sure that people can’t be killed in this rig again? Major Odal actually killed people….”
“I understand the question,” Leoh said. “I’ve added three new circuits to the machine. The first psychonically isolates the duelists inside the machine; it’s now impossible for Odal or anyone else to contact the outside world while the machine is in operation.”
The newsman turned up the volume control on his wrist recorder. “Go on.”
“The second circuit,” Leoh continued, “monitors the entire duel. If either side requests, the dueling machine’s chief meditech can review the tape and determine if any rules were broken. Thus, even if there is foul play of some sort, we can at least catch it.”
“After the fact,” the newsman pointed out.
-Yes.”
“That wouldn’t have helped Dulaq or Massan, or the others that were killed.”
Leoh could feel irritation growing inside him. “After one duel, we could have found out what Odal was doing and stopped him.”
The newsman said nothing.
“Finally, we have added an automatic override to the medical monitoring equipment, so that if one of the duelists shows the slightest sign of actual medical danger, the duel is automatically stopped.”
The newsman thought it over for half a second. “Suppose a man gets a sudden heart attack? He might be dead before you can get the door to his booth open, even though you’ve stopped the duel immediately.”