Читать книгу The Science Fiction Anthology онлайн

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He kept to his apartment after that, and studied furiously. No man could overcontrol an awake opponent in a direct shot—if the ball was all right. As the ball closed in, the approached player’s influence grew proportionately stronger, while his opponent’s lessened in inverse ratio. That was the reason Grant had originally declared the sport to be safe.

He interrupted his work only briefly for Tony’s funeral, and felt an obscure shame in facing Bee Anthony. Then the cellular organism of the sphere used in the game absorbed his attention again. It was an artificially nurtured nerve-center, a growth devised by himself, and seemed to offer the only possible answer. Perhaps this sub-life had acquired learning ability—the ability to act independently. It seemed absurd, and yet how much was really known of this highly irritable stuff called living matter?

Bee found him at his apartment the fourth morning. She seemed much more relaxed. “Tony hated useless grief,” she said. “I had to come here, Granny. I had to know that we might see the end of all this.”