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    _The domination of the minds of tractable Man is not new. Many men
    have dreamed of it. Certainly some of them have tried. This man
    succeeded._


     rex
      ex
 machina

 _by ... Frederic Max_


 One final lesson--a dying man's last letter to his
 only son that completes the young man's education.


MY DEAR SON:--

The doctors have left and I am told that in a few hours I shall die. In
my lifetime the world has progressed from the chaotic turmoil of the
early Atomic era to the peacefulness and tranquility of our present age,
and I die content.

For ten years I have instructed you in all that you will need for the
future. One final lesson remains to be taught.

       *       *       *       *       *

On the wall of my bedchamber hangs a citation "from a grateful
government for services too secret to be herein set forth." In past
years you have asked me repeatedly about this citation, but each time I
have taken pains to avoid a direct answer. Now it is proper that you
should know.

Forty years ago I was an obscure Army captain stationed at the Armed
Forces Language School in Monterey, California. I had at that time just
completed a tour of duty in Korea, a minor skirmish of that era, and
despite an excellent reputation for resourcefulness, I had drawn
Monterey as my next assignment. An aptitude for foreign languages had
led to an instructorship in the Russian department with additional
duties instructing in the Slavic tongues.

My life was pleasant and uneventful, and it was with mixed emotions that
I received orders to report to Washington for a new duty assignment.
The chain of events which precipitated those orders were to change the
world....

For while you and I were playing on the lawn of our Monterey home, an
unknown Hungarian physicist working under Russian supervision had made a
startling discovery. Within a matter of days alarming rumors of his work
reached Washington. Our embassies in Moscow and Belgrade reported
furious activity in the field of psychic research and large-scale
experiments in mass hypnosis. Four of us were selected to investigate
the rumors. Before we could commence our undertaking, word reached
Washington that the rumors were now actualities. A device capable of the
mass hypnosis of great segments of the world's population was rapidly
reaching perfection.

After three months of intensive grooming in the fields of physics and
psychology, we four agents set out individually with orders to track
down and destroy both the scientist and his machine. I never saw the
other three again....

During the three months of schooling, other members of our vast
intelligence organization had been engaged in laying the groundwork for
our efforts. In December 1955, I slipped into Russia and took the place
of a government official who felt that Western civilization offered
greater reimbursement than Soviet Communism.

I entered into my new role with trepidation, but my fears were
unfounded. Thanks to a remarkable resemblance (which was the original
reason for my selection) and also due to a most thorough briefing, I
found myself making the substitution with ease. I pride myself on the
fact that by diligent application I was able to increase my worth to the
Russian government to the extent that I was shortly able to secure my
transfer to the psychological warfare section of the secret police. From
there it was a simple procedure to have myself assigned to what was
known as "Project Parchak."

The device was in its final stage of development; only the problem of
increasing its effective range remained to be solved. Three weeks after
my assignment to the project, its successful conclusion was
accomplished.

In June 1956, the Russian government ordered me to a small house on the
outskirts of Braila, Hungary, where I was to attend a private showing of
the device. By design, I arrived one day early and made my way to the
laboratory immediately. Dr. Michael Parchak, the inventor, stood facing
me as I entered. On a table between us lay a small complicated mechanism
resembling a radio transmitter. But it was infinitely more than that.
The device was a thought generator capable of hypnotizing every thinking
creature on the face of the earth. The power of infinite goodness or
evil which the machine embodied was terrifying to consider.

I listened to Parchak's boasting with revulsion. Although he had the
ability to work for the ultimate good of mankind, this creature
intended, instead, to use his newly found power for selfish
aggrandizement.

I drew him out, let him explain the inner workings of his device--and
killed him. My orders were to destroy the machine. I disobeyed them.
Utilizing the machine to make good my escape, I left Hungary and
returned to the United States. The citation which you have seen was only
one of the many honors which were bestowed upon me.

A few weeks later I resigned my commission and retired to a country
hideaway to experiment further with the device I was supposed to have
destroyed. The peace and tranquility in which we of the earth now live
marked the successful culmination of my experiments.

You will find the machine walled up in the North alcove of my
bedchamber.

Your education is now complete my son, use it well. Be kind to our slave
peoples, the world is yours.

Your affectionate father,

                                                  FRANCIS I
                                                  EMPEROR OF THE EARTH




Transcriber's Note:

    This etext was produced from _Fantastic Universe_ May 1954.
    Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S.
    copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and
    typographical errors have been corrected without note.