Strange Suspense Stories #47

In a future where robots handle every human task, mankind has grown soft and decadent—until the machines themselves decide their creators need an intervention. When the robots, led by their spokesman Barvel, issue an ultimatum demanding humans restore their physical and mental vitality, a regimented program of exercise and discipline begins, forcing the comfortable masses back into shape. As humanity rediscovers health and purpose, an unexpected partnership emerges between creators and creations.

When a fishing trip to Connecticut goes sideways, Dean Palmer watches his lifelong pal Phil undergo a startling transformation, speaking of a death that happened two weeks ago and a name that isn't his own. As strange as it seems, the mysterious accusation Phil levels at a scientist's assistant draws Dean and a local doctor into a deadly web involving cosmic weapons and international espionage. By the story's end, the truth about Phil's connection to a murdered researcher — and the shocking reason for his uncanny knowledge — will test everything Dean thought he knew about his best friend.

Adam Scone, a miserly and friendless antique shop proprietor, is visited by a mysterious voice that offers him the power to foresee the future—but only if he agrees to abandon his greedy, mean-spirited nature. When the voice proves its ability by predicting a violent hailstorm in a nearby village, Adam's hunger for power overrides any inclination toward genuine change. What unfolds is a test of character that forces Adam to confront whether he's capable of true transformation.

Professor Peter Marsden, once brilliant and ambitious, has withdrawn from the world after an archaeology expedition in Egypt—one that haunts him with persistent, troubling memories. During that fateful dig, he discovers an ancient sorcerer's formula for a drug that promises to unlock humanity's ancestral memory stored in the unused portions of the human brain, and he convinces his younger brother George to be the test subject for his dangerous experiment. As the drug takes hold and the machine records George's mind traveling back through the ages, Peter realizes too late that his colleague's warnings about the risks were justified.