Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 71 — page 121: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

' thing else. AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION heading towards the street as fast as he dared. Time, too much time, had passed and not enough remained. And yet, was it his fault? Who would have guessed of the hypnotic effects of the lights? Not those alone, of course, but all the other deranging impulses emitted from electronic machines, es- pecially the ultra short waves used in the reproduction medium. They had been the direct result of his trouble. The rest had followed with inevitable logic. To be normal he had to act normal, and he couldn’t do it. Sleep, for example. He couldn’t sleep, and he had let it worry him. All men slept. | ‘Therefore, he should sleep, too. And women. He had wondered about that, too. All men desired women, and yet he had felt no emotional reaction at all to them. Nor, for that matter, towards any- No sleep, no emotions, none of the thous- and things which made men what they were. No wonder he had been afraid. His fear had been caused by his not acting as others acted. His amnesia, forgetful- ness rather, but the unfortu- nate combination of circum- stances. Bright lights, sugges- tion, the flooding electronic impulses—he should never have been stupid enough to have ventured into that place ~ of entertainment. It had given him a false identification with people utterly divorced from what he actually was. The fear was still with him, but it was understandable now. It was a warning, noth- ing more, and he lengthened his stride as he left the city. If he had known laughter he would have felt amused. It was ridiculous, the concept of a thing of steel and plastic thinking that it was a man and knowing the derange- ment because it couldn’t act and feel like one. Impatiently, he strode to- wards the waiting vessel which was to take him home. 120 conmiclsooks.comnn