
The Psychological Regulator
In a sleek, high‑tech clinic of 2066, nurse Markett Travenor moves through sterile corridors, her uniform reduced to a functional bandolier as she prepares for a controversial procedure. The patient, a former coal‑mine organizer now crippled by a suite of irrational fears, has been labeled “degeneration” and is slated for an experimental treatment called the Psychological Regulator. The story opens with the clinical precision of the hospital’s bureaucracy and the uneasy tension between staff and a frightened, reluctant subject.
As the doctor and nurse discuss the risky “one‑shot” approach, the narrative explores the ethical gray zones of a society that can engineer both bodies and minds. Readers are drawn into a world where advanced technology collides with raw human vulnerability, prompting questions about the cost of healing and the limits of scientific control. The opening sets a compelling stage for a tense, thought‑provoking journey into the future of mental health.
Language
en
Duration
~57 minutes (55K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
Mar 16, 2021
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1923–1958
A sharp, darkly imaginative voice of mid-century science fiction, C. M. Kornbluth explored the dangers of mass culture, unchecked technology, and political power. His influential collaborations with Frederik Pohl helped produce classics such as The Space Merchants and Gladiator at Law.
View all books
by C. M. (Cyril M.) Kornbluth

by Frederik Pohl, C. M. (Cyril M.) Kornbluth

by C. M. (Cyril M.) Kornbluth, Robert W. Lowndes, Frederik Pohl

by C. M. (Cyril M.) Kornbluth

by Frederik Pohl, C. M. (Cyril M.) Kornbluth

by C. M. (Cyril M.) Kornbluth

by Frederik Pohl, C. M. (Cyril M.) Kornbluth

by C. M. (Cyril M.) Kornbluth