Yes, though nobody honestly knew what they were doing, the experiments went on. Perhaps the time had come to halt, to stop doing and start thinking.

But Leighton was clutching J by the arm, saying, «Come along, old chap. The best is yet to come.» J allowed himself to be half-dragged toward the innermost computer room, the place where the impossible had happened already so many, many times.

J hung back when they reached the massive entrance door. «Perhaps it would be better to wait, to be careful… «

It was Blade, surprisingly enough, who answered, «No! I want to go.»

J studied the younger man a moment. It's said one can become addicted to anything. Was Blade addicted to the machine? Here was a possibility they'd never considered, a dangerous possibility. And what if Blade found on the «other side» a world he liked better than stodgy old England? Could the computer bring Blade home against his will?

The door opened.

Blade and Lord Leighton went in, J trailing behind.

Lord Leighton had been chattering on all this time, and Blade, listening intently, had been nodding at intervals and asking questions in a low voice.

«As you see, the most drastic changes are the ones I've made in here,» said the hunchback proudly, gesturing toward the place where once the familiar electric-chairlike device had stood. With alarm J noted that a new contraption occupied the center of the room, a sort of upright Iron Maiden or Egyptian mummy case, but with a tangle of wires attached to it.

Lord Leighton was explaining, «This case is molded so that it fits you exactly, Richard my boy. No one else can use it. And all the electrodes that I used to attach to you, one at a time, are now pressed into positive contact with your body automatically when the box closes.»

«Interesting,» said Blade. «A definite improvement.»