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of the upper skies waned. It was time for her also to go home. But she lingered in
an unnatural indecision, knowing she could do nothing, wondering what she
could do. The inner conflict drained her strength and twice within an hour she
paused for energy drinks.
There was something else, also, a sense of personal disaster. She had always
taken it for granted that she would eventually marry a weapon shop man. All
through school and college, when her own application for membership. was
already approved, she had considered all others-the ordinary people-as outsiders.
She thought with a piercing comprehension, "It was that moment on the ship
when he was in trouble. I was sorry for him."
He was in deeper trouble now. If she could possibly locate the house he had been
taken to, she would-what? Her mind paused. She felt astounded at the
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r r
forcefulness of the idea that came. Why, it was ridiculous. If she went to one of
these places she would have to go through with an illusion, mentally and
physically.
It seemed to her, shakily, that the weapon shops would separate her from their
organization for even considering such a thing. But when her mind automatically
flashed back over the fine print of the documents she had signed, she couldn't
recall any prohibition. In fact, some of the sentences, as she remembered them,
were positively sensational when examined in her present situation:
". . . Weapon Shop people may marry according to their desire...participate in, or
partake of, any vice or pleasure of Isher for persona! Reasons...There are no
restrictions on the use made of a member's spare time by the member...
"It is, of course, taken for granted that no member will wish to do anything that
might harm his or her standing with the Pp machine ... as everyone has been
clearly told...periodic examinations by the Pp will determine the status of a
member's continuance with the shops..."In the event that a member is discovered
to have fallen below the requirements in any vital degree, the weapon shops will
relieve the individual of all weapon shop memories and information the
possession of which by unauthorized persons might be dangerous to the shops...
"The following vices and pleasures, when pursued with too much ardor, have
proven in the past to be initial steps in the severance of relations..."
Among those she remembered as being mildly dangerous for women was
"Houses of Illusion." She couldn't recall clearly but it seemed to her there had
been a footnote in connection with, that listing. Something about the danger not
being in the pleasure itself but in the knowledge that the men in such places were
nearly always unwilling slaves. Repeated experiences caused penetration of the
ego with the result that what began as a search for a comparatively normal
sensual adventure ended with the even bolder participation of the ego.
She came out of her intent memory reverie to realize that she was walking rapidly
toward the special flash signal of a 'stat station. Within a minute she had her
connection with the Weapon Shop Information Center. A few seconds later she
tucked a 'stat duplicate of the 2,108 addresses of Houses of Illusion in her purse,
and headed for the Penny Palace.
Her decision was made and from that moment she had not a thought of drawing
back.
Inside the Penny Palace she saw things that Cayle could not possibly have
observed without having the knowledge that she had. The play, she saw, was
almost back to normal. A few of the hired people were still ostentatiously playing
at games that would otherwise have been bare of players. The moment enough
legitimate pleasure seekers were risking money on a machine the hirelings
withdrew casually. Lucy headed toward the rear of the great room, pausing
frequently and pretending to watch the play at various games. She carried a
weapon shop nullifier in her purse. So she opened and shut doors leading to the
manager's office without setting off the Imperial-type alarms.
Inside she depended entirely on her ring alarm to warn her of the approach of
anyone. Coolly but swiftly she searched the office. First she pressed the machine-
file activator, pecking out the key word illusion: The file-screen remained blank.
She clicked off the word house. No response.
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Surely he had the address of the house or houses with which he dealt. In a fury [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]