"Frederik Pohl - Wapshot's Demon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pohl Frederick)

from Germany, and they're all over the country now. They
work."
I said patiently, "Mr. Wapshot, what has this got to
do with fortune-telling?"
He scowled. "It isn't fortune Well, never mind that.
So we take my Semantic Polarizer. I put into it a large
sample of particleswhat we call a 'universe.' These par-
ticles are microfilmed copies of letters people have sent
me, along with their checks for a dollar ninety-eight, just
like I told them to do in my ads. I run the Polarizer for a
while, until the particles in the 'universe' are thoroughly
randomed, and then I start tapping off the questions. The
ones that come out at this end, the answer is 'yes.' The
ones that come out at the other, 'no.' I have to admit," he
confessed, a little embarrassed, "that I can only pull about
sixty per cent out before the results begin getting un-
reliablethe ones that come off slowly are evidently less
highly charged than the ones that come off right away, and
so there's a chance of error. But the ones that come off
early, Mr. Barclay, they're for sure. After all," he de-
manded, "what else can they be but definite? Don't for-
get, the particles are exactly alike in every respectshape,
color, weight, size, texture, appearance, feel, everything
every respect but one. The only difference is, for some the
answer is 'yes,' for some the answer is 'no.' "
I stood looking at him silently.
A bottle whizzed and splintered in the airshaft; we both
ducked.
I said, "It works?"
"It works," he said solemnly.
"You've tried it out?"
He grinnedalmost for the first time. "You took my
case, didn't you? That was a yes. Your price was five
hundred? That was a yes. It works, Mr. Barclay. As I
see it, that ends the discussion."
And so it did, of coursepermanently.
The Semantic Polarizer was remarkably easy to run. I
played with it for a while, and then I sent the white-haired
bellboy down for the Sunday papers. He looked at me as
if I was some kind of an idiot. "Excuse me," he said,
scratching his head, "but isn't today Wednes"
"I want the Sunday papers," I told him. "Here." Well,
the five-dollar bill got the papers for me, but obviously
he still thought I was crazy. He said:
"Excuse me, but did the gemmun in this room go out?"
"You mean Mr. Wapshot?" I asked him. "Yes. That's
right. He went out. And now, if you will kindly do the
same...."
I locked the door behind him. Oh, Wapshot had gone
out, all right. I pulled the papers apartthey were a stack