seemed to possess personalskill and ferocity. Later, workmen found that certain tools had a knackof fitting smoothly in the hand--seeming even to divine the grain of thewood they worked on. The individual characteristics of violins werenotorious, so that a violin which sang joyously under the bow wasliterally priceless.
And all these things, as a matter of observation and not ofsuperstition, kept their qualities only when in constant use. Let a shipbe hauled out of water and remain there for a time, and she would beclumsy on return to her native element. Let a sword or tool stay unused,and it seemed to dull. In particular, the finest of violins lost itssplendor of tone if left unplayed, and any violin left in a repair-shopfor a month had to be played upon constantly for many days before itsliving tone came back.
* * * * *
The sword and the tool perhaps, but the ship and the violin certainly,acted as if they acquired habits of operation by being used, and lostthem by disuse. When more complex machines were invented, such factswere less noticeable. True, no two automobiles ever handled exactly thesame, and that was recognized. But the fact that no complex machineworked well until it had run for a time was never commented on, exceptin the observation that it needed to be warmed up. Anybody would haveadmitted that a machine in the act of operating was a dynamic system ina solid group of objects, but nobody reflected that a stopped machinewas a dead thing. Nobody thought to liken the warming-up period for anaeroplane engine to the days of playing before a disuse-dulled violinregained its tone.
Yet it was obvious enough. A ship and a sword and a tool and a violinwere objects in which dynamic systems existed when they were used, andin which they ceased to exist when use stopped. And nobody noticed thata living creature is an object which contains a dynamic system when itis living, and loses it by death.
For nearly two centuries quite complex machines were started, and warmedup, and used, and then allowed to grow cold again. In time the morecomplex machines were stopped only reluctantly. Computers, for example,came to be merely turned down below operating voltage when not in use,because warming them up was so difficult and exacting a task. Which wasan unrecognized use of the Mahon principle. It was a way to keep amachine activated while not actually operating. It was a state of rest,of loafing, of idleness, which was not the death of a running mechanism.
The Mahon unit was a logical development. It was an absurdly simpledevice, and not in the least like a brain. But to the surprise ofeverybody, including its inventor, a Mahon-modified machine did morethan stay warmed up. It retained operative habits as no complex devicehad ever done before. In time it was recognized that Mahon-modifiedmachines acquired experience and kept it so long as the standby lightglowed and flickered in its socket. If the lamp went out the machinedied, and when reenergized was a different individual entirely, withoutexperience.
Sergeant Bellews made such large-minded statements as were needed tobrief Lecky on the work done in this installation with Mahon-controlledmachines.
"They don't think," he explained negligently, "any more than dogs think.They just react--like dogs do. They get patterns of reaction. They gettrained. Experienced. They get good! Over at the airfield they'rewalking around beaming happy over the way the jets are flyin'themselves."
Lecky gazed around the Rehab Shop. There were shelves of machines, dulyboxed and equipped with Mahon units, but not yet activated. Activationmeant turning them on and giving them a sort of basic training in thetasks they were designed to do. But also there were machines which hadbroken down--invariably through misuse, said Sergeant Bellewsacidly--and had been sent to the Rehab Shop to be re-trained in theirproper duties.
"Guys see 'em acting sensible and obediently," said Bellews withbitterness, "and expect 'em to think. Over at the jet-field they finallycome to understand." His tone moderated. "Now they got jets that putdown their own landing-gear, and holler when fuel's running low, and doacrobatics happy if you only jiggle the stick. They mighty near flythemselves! I tell you, if well-trained Mahon jets ever do tangle withold-style machines, it's goin' to be a caution to cats! It'll be like apack of happy terriers pilin' into hamsters. It'll be murder!"
* * * * *
He surveyed his stock. From a back corner he brought out a small machinewith an especially meditative tempo in its standby-lamp flicker. Thetempo accelerated a little when he put it on a work-bench.
"They got batteries to stay activated with," he observed, "and only needreal juice when they're workin'. This here's a play-back recorder they hadover in Recreation. Some guys trained it to switch frequencies--speed-upand slow-down stuff. They laughed themselves sick! There used to be atough guy over there,--a staff sergeant, he was--that gave lectures onmilitary morals in a deep bass voice. He was proud of that bull voiceof his. He used it frequently. So they taped him, and Al here--" thename plainly referred to the machine--"used to play it back switchedup so he sounded like a squeaky girl. That poor guy, he liked to busteda blood-vessel when he heard himself speakin' soprano. He raised helland they sent Al here to be rehabilitated. But I switched another machinefor him and sent it back, instead. Of course, Al don't know what he'sdoing, but--"
* * * * *
He brought over another device, slightly larger and with a screen.
"Somebody had a bright notion with this one, too," he said. "Theyfigured they'd scramble pictures for secret transmission, like theyscramble voice. But they found they hadda have team-trained sets towork, an' they weren't interchangeable. They sent Gus here to bedeactivated an' trained again. I kinda hate to do that. Sometimes yougot to deactivate a machine, but it's like shooting a dog somebody'staught to steal eggs, who don't know it's wrong."
He bolted the two instruments together. He made connections withflexible cables and tucked the cable out of sight. He plugged in forpower and began to make adjustments.
The small scientist asked curiously:
"What are you preparing, Sergeant?"
"These two'll unscramble that broadcast," said Sergeant Bellews, withtranquil confidence. "Al's learned how to make a tape and switchfrequencies expert. Gus, here, he's a unscrambler that can make anykinda scanning pattern. Together they'll have a party doing what they'respecial trained for. We'll hook 'em to Betsy's training-terminals."
He regarded the two machines warmly. Connected, now, their standbylights flickered at a new tempo. They synchronized, and broke synchrony,and went back into elaborate, not-quite-resolvable patterns which weresomehow increasingly integrated as seconds went by.
"Those lights look kinda nice, don't they?" asked the sergeantadmiringly. "Makes you think of a coupla dogs gettin' acquainted whenthey're goin' out on a job of hunting or something."
But Lecky said abruptly, in amazement:
"But, Sergeant! In the Pentagon it takes days to unscramble a receivedbroadcast such as Betsy receives! It requires experts--"
"Huh!" said Sergeant Bellews. He picked up the two machines. "Don't getme started about the kinda guys that wangle headquarters-company jobs!They got a special talent for fallin' soft. But they haven't necessarilygot anything else!"
* * * * *
Lecky followed Sergeant Bellews as the sergeant picked up his newcombination of devices and headed out of the Rehab Shop. Outside, in thesunshine, there were roarings to be heard. Lecky looked up. A formationof jets swam into view against the sky. A tiny speck, trailing amonstrous plume of smoke, shot upward from the jet-field. The formationtightened.
The ascending jet jiggled as if in pure exuberance as it swoopedupward--but the jiggle was beautifully designed to throw standardautomatic gunsights off.
A plane peeled off from the formation and dived at the ascending ship.There was a curious alteration in the thunder of motors. Therate-of-rise of the climbing jet dwindled almost to zero. Sparks shotout before it. They made a cone the diving ship could not avoid. It spedthrough them and then went as if disappointedly to a lower level. It
stood by to watch the rest of the dog-fight.
"Nice!" said Sergeant Bellews appreciatively. "That's a Mahon jet all byitself, training against regular ships. They have to let it shootstar-bullets in training, or it'd get hot and bothered in a real fightwhen its guns went off."
The lower jet streaked skyward once more. Sparks sped from theformation. They flared through emptiness where the Mahon jet had beenbut now was not. It scuttled abruptly to one side as concerted streamsof sparks converged. They missed. It darted into zestful, exuberantmaneuverings, remarkably like a dog dashing madly here and there in purehigh spirits. The formation of planes attacked it resolutely.
Suddenly the lone jet plunged into the midst