He covered the patch with a cap.He covered the patch with a cap. Inspecting himself in the mirror, he decided the set-up was unobtrusive enough. Only the thin wire was visible. He strolled outside onto the campus. It was a sunny, bright day, and the green quadrangle was filled with students. Jerry switched on the Amplifier. He staggered, almost fell to his knees. A wave of thoughts and emotions surged through his mind. Frantically, he fumbled for the gain control. At last, he had adjusted the Amp so that he could deal with the input. He explored the gain and other controls. He discovered that he could control the range of the Amp, from a few feet to hundreds of yards. As a mere novice, he decided to keep the range short for now. More confident, Jerry wandered the campus, feeling a secret exaltation at being able to literally read minds. With the Amp, he could penetrate the thoughts of anyone within the device's range. Surface thoughts, deep thoughts, emotions, everything. He had considered himself to be a cynic; thought that nothing he could possibly encounter would shock or surprise him. He was wrong. After a few hours, he switched off the Amp and returned to his apartment, shaking his head at the primordial swamp of lust which surrounded him. |