
Transcriber’s note:
[p135]By CHARLES V. DE VET - monkey on his back
A nameless figure darts through an endless, glass‑walled corridor, pursued by a squad of relentless men. The chase leads him into a gleaming terminal where he slips a briefcase into a locker, then decides to feign surrender, buying a moment of uneasy calm. As the strangers close in, the tension pivots from physical danger to a psychological standoff.
Later, the man sits across from the cold, meticulous psychoanalyst Milton Bergstrom, who offers a mysterious serum designed to strip away mental barriers. The drug transforms the room, turning the floor into a spongy tide and pulling the patient into a stark, dimensionless plain where only a single, elegant weapon lies in his hand. In this surreal limbo, questions of identity and purpose surface, hinting at deeper layers of a reality that may be far more fragile than it appears.
Language
en
Duration
~28 minutes (27K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Greg Weeks, David Wilson and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2008-09-10
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1911–1997
A steady contributor to mid-century science fiction magazines, this American writer built a reputation on brisk, imaginative stories and later returned to publishing after a long break. His work includes more than 50 short stories as well as novels such as Cosmic Checkmate, written with Katherine MacLean.
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by Charles V. De Vet

by Charles V. De Vet

by Charles V. De Vet

by Charles V. De Vet

by Charles V. De Vet

by Charles V. De Vet

by Charles V. De Vet

by Charles V. De Vet