human
Doctor, Malone said,
gpt
Eee,
human
It's me,
gpt
Indeed, O'Connor said.
human
Indeed indeed. My goodness. He opened his mouth some more but no words came out of it.
gpt
Eee,
human
I'm sorry I startled you, he said,
gpt
O'Connor stared blankly at him.
human
Dr. O'Connor, Malone said,
gpt
Mr. Malone, he said,
human
This is important, doctor, he said.
gpt
Let's not waste time with all that kind of thing.
human
But, Mr. Malone--
gpt
I need some information, Malone said,
human
About what? O'Connor said.
gpt
Do you mean nontelepaths receiving some sort of ... communication from telepaths?
human
Right, Malone said.
gpt
Mind-to-mind communication, of course; I'm not interested in the United States mail or the telephone companies. How about it, doctor? Is it possible?
human
There have been cases reported, he said at last.
gpt
Very few have been written up with any accuracy, and those seem to be confined to close relatives or loved ones of the person projecting the message.
human
Is that necessary? Malone said.
gpt
Isn't it possible that--
human
Further, O'Connor said, getting back into his lecture-room stride,
gpt
I think you'll find that the ... ah ... message so received is one indicating that the projector of such a message is in dire peril. He has, for instance, been badly injured, or is rapidly approaching death, or else he has narrowly escaped death.
human
What does that have to do with it? Malone said.
gpt
I mean, why should all those requirements be necessary?
human
Because, he said,
gpt
And he reaches a relative or a loved one, Malone said,
human
We assume so,
gpt
Very well, then, Malone said.
human
I'll assume so, too. But if the energy is so great, then a person couldn't do this sort of thing very often.
gpt
Hardly,
human
It's like ... like giving blood to a blood bank, he said.
gpt
Giving ... oh, three quarts of blood. It might not kill you. But if it didn't, you'd be weak for a long time.
human
Exactly, O'Connor said.
gpt
A good analogy, Mr. Malone.