construction at all possible speed.
Each concern was to build a part of the new instrument. Neither part
was of value without the other. The slow-thinking Godolphians weren't
likely to make the necessary mental connection between the seemingly
unrelated projects.
He retired to his suite and began to draw diagrams. It was harder than
he thought. He knew the principles, but the actual details were far more
complicated than he remembered.
Functionally, the Dimanche instrument was divided. into three main
phases. There was a brain and memory unit that operated much as the
human counterpart did. Unlike the human brain, however, it had no body to
control, hence more of it was available for thought processes. Entirely
neuronic in construction, it was far smaller than an electronic brain
of the same capacity.
The second function was electronic, akin to radar. Instead of material
objects, it traced and recorded distant nerve impulses. It could count
the heartbeat, measure the rate of respiration, was even capable of
approximate analysis of the contents of the blood stream. Properly focused
on the nerves of tongue, lips or larynx, it transmitted that data back to
the neuronic brain, which then reconstructed it into speech. Lip reading,
after a fashion, carried to the ultimate.
Finally, there was the voice of Dimanche, a speaker under the control
of the neuronic brain.
For convenience of installation in the body, Dimanche was packaged in
two units. The larger package was usually surgeried into the abdomen. The
small one, containing the speaker, was attached to the skull just behind
the ear. It worked by bone conduction, allowing silent communication
between operator and instrument. A real convenience.
It wasn't enough to know this, as Cassal did. He'd talked to the company
experts, had seen the symbolical drawings, the plans for an improved
version. He needed something better than the best that had been planned,
though.
The drawback was this: *Dimanche was powered directly by the nervous
system of the body in which it was housed.* Against Murra Foray, he'd
be overmatched. She was stronger than he physically, probably also in
the production of nervous energy.
One solution was to make available to the new instrument a larger
fraction of the neural currents of the body. That was dangerous --
a slight miscalculation and the user was dead. Yet he had to have an
instrument that would overpower her.
Cassal rubbed his eyes wearily. How could he find some way of supplying
additional power?
Abruptly, Cassal sat up. That was the way, of course an auxiliary power
pack that need not be surgeried into his body, extra power that he would
use only in emergencies.
Neuronics, Inc., had never done this, had never thought that such an
instrument would ever be necessary. They didn't need to overpower their
customers. They merely wanted advance information via subvocalized
thoughts.
It was easier for Cassal to conceive this idea than to engineer it. At
the end of the first day, he knew it would be a slow process.
Twice he postponed deadlines to the manufacturing concerns he'd
engaged. He locked himself in his rooms and took Anti-Sleep against the
doctor's vigorous protests. In one week he had the necessary drawings,
crude but legible. An expert would have to make innumerable corrections,
but the intent was plain.
One week. During that time Murra Foray would be growing hourly more
proficient in the use of Dimanche.
Cassal followed the neuronics expert groggily, seventy-two hours sleep
still clogging his reactions. Not that he hadn't needed sleep after
that week. The Godolphian showed him proudly through the shops, though
he wasn't at all interested in their achievements. The only noteworthy
aspect was the grand scale of their architecture.
"We did it, though I don't think we'd have taken the job if we'd known
how hard
Each concern was to build a part of the new instrument. Neither part
was of value without the other. The slow-thinking Godolphians weren't
likely to make the necessary mental connection between the seemingly
unrelated projects.
He retired to his suite and began to draw diagrams. It was harder than
he thought. He knew the principles, but the actual details were far more
complicated than he remembered.
Functionally, the Dimanche instrument was divided. into three main
phases. There was a brain and memory unit that operated much as the
human counterpart did. Unlike the human brain, however, it had no body to
control, hence more of it was available for thought processes. Entirely
neuronic in construction, it was far smaller than an electronic brain
of the same capacity.
The second function was electronic, akin to radar. Instead of material
objects, it traced and recorded distant nerve impulses. It could count
the heartbeat, measure the rate of respiration, was even capable of
approximate analysis of the contents of the blood stream. Properly focused
on the nerves of tongue, lips or larynx, it transmitted that data back to
the neuronic brain, which then reconstructed it into speech. Lip reading,
after a fashion, carried to the ultimate.
Finally, there was the voice of Dimanche, a speaker under the control
of the neuronic brain.
For convenience of installation in the body, Dimanche was packaged in
two units. The larger package was usually surgeried into the abdomen. The
small one, containing the speaker, was attached to the skull just behind
the ear. It worked by bone conduction, allowing silent communication
between operator and instrument. A real convenience.
It wasn't enough to know this, as Cassal did. He'd talked to the company
experts, had seen the symbolical drawings, the plans for an improved
version. He needed something better than the best that had been planned,
though.
The drawback was this: *Dimanche was powered directly by the nervous
system of the body in which it was housed.* Against Murra Foray, he'd
be overmatched. She was stronger than he physically, probably also in
the production of nervous energy.
One solution was to make available to the new instrument a larger
fraction of the neural currents of the body. That was dangerous --
a slight miscalculation and the user was dead. Yet he had to have an
instrument that would overpower her.
Cassal rubbed his eyes wearily. How could he find some way of supplying
additional power?
Abruptly, Cassal sat up. That was the way, of course an auxiliary power
pack that need not be surgeried into his body, extra power that he would
use only in emergencies.
Neuronics, Inc., had never done this, had never thought that such an
instrument would ever be necessary. They didn't need to overpower their
customers. They merely wanted advance information via subvocalized
thoughts.
It was easier for Cassal to conceive this idea than to engineer it. At
the end of the first day, he knew it would be a slow process.
Twice he postponed deadlines to the manufacturing concerns he'd
engaged. He locked himself in his rooms and took Anti-Sleep against the
doctor's vigorous protests. In one week he had the necessary drawings,
crude but legible. An expert would have to make innumerable corrections,
but the intent was plain.
One week. During that time Murra Foray would be growing hourly more
proficient in the use of Dimanche.
Cassal followed the neuronics expert groggily, seventy-two hours sleep
still clogging his reactions. Not that he hadn't needed sleep after
that week. The Godolphian showed him proudly through the shops, though
he wasn't at all interested in their achievements. The only noteworthy
aspect was the grand scale of their architecture.
"We did it, though I don't think we'd have taken the job if we'd known
how hard
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