Fiend Without a Face Page #5

Maybe you can help me to

clear up this ghastly business.

But no matter what you do to me,

remember those horrible deaths

were beyond my control.

Go on, Professor.

For many years now,

I have been working on a theory

of thought materialization.

The entire apparatus

to give it the required boost...

is in my laboratory.

Laboratory?

I didn't know you had one.

There are many things

you didn't know, my child.

If you had, you'd never

have come here again.

You can see it later.

I knew I could never succeed

on the principles of telepathy.

I needed to stimulate my brain...

to the extent that I could detach

thought from my conscious...

to give it a separate

entity of its own.

I concentrated

on the simplest experiment:

To turn the page of a book.

I designed an instrument

to create...

a sudden and powerful

electrical boost...

to help me free my thought.

But each application

of the electric charge...

created a shock

almost equal to electrocution.

It made me ill.

Dr. Bradley diagnosed exhaustion.

He thought my illness

was caused by overwork...

in getting my papers

ready for publication.

He introduced me

to Barbara Griselle.

With Barbara as my secretary,

I was able

to satisfy my publisher...

and continue my experiments

to materialize thought.

For a long time, I persisted

in this one experiment...

without success...

until one night.

The lightning,

in striking the house,

gave my instruments a sudden

violent charge of power.

And my thought was free,

free to turn the page of a book.

I altered the design

of my equipment...

to generate

these violent power boosts.

But it was very dangerous,

and I could only undergo

each experiment...

after a long period of rest.

Whenever I felt well enough

to absorb the shock,

I found no difficulty

in moving small objects.

Eventually, I developed

a certain tolerance...

to the high voltages I used.

But what I really needed

for regular experiments...

was a new form of power,

something that was smoother,

something that would flow through

my brain without causing collapse.

The new atomic plant at the air base

provided me with this power.

I devised additional apparatus

that enabled me...

to divert a portion

of the atomic power...

that was radiating

between the ground station...

and the radar aircraft

circling 40,000 feet above.

It was power

which I could control,

and I learned how to amplify

my thoughts without hurting myself.

I was able

to detach my thoughts...

and allow them

to work on their own.

I began to devise a being...

into which the thought,

once released,

could enter and preserve itself

for all humanity.

I envisaged something akin

to the human brain...

with life and mobility...

but without the limitations

of man's body.

I concentrated my entire thought

on its creation.

I succeeded!

But, like thought itself,

it was invisible.

That night I entered my laboratory...

to take advantage of a radar test...

only to find the place in shambles,

my equipment wrecked beyond repair.

All of my notes

about its creation...

and how I thought

it could be controlled...

were destroyed.

I knew now that

I had created a fiend.

There was no other explanation.

I was helpless,

but whom could I tell?

Who would believe

such a fantastic story?

I could sense the presence of the fiend

there in the room with me,

growing more powerful

with each succeeding day.

My one desire

was to destroy the thing,

but I possessed no means

of projecting my thought to do so.

Then I could hear it.

Was it possible that

there were more than one?

I was unable to stop them.

They were now drawing power

from the atomic station.

Its intelligence had expanded.

It now knew how to escape.

And then followed these horrible

deaths and Gibbons' madness.

I had to know what I had done.

I had to see one of the bodies.

I went to the mayor's tomb.

I now know that I have

created a mental vampire,

a fiend that needs

to drain the intellect...

to survive and multiply.

I'll get it.

Supposing you're right, Professor,

how does it live?

How else but on the brains

and nerve centers...

removed from these dead people.

Then where are they, and why

can't we see them? This is nonsense.

We're facing a new form of life...

that nobody understands.

I believe it feeds on the radiation

from your atomic plant,

and that it's evil.

Professor, it's my opinion

that the evil's all in your mind.

You're in need

of medical assistance.

Doctor, I'm glad you're here.

This man's become a raving lunatic.

Hey, what's going on out there?

Hey, look!

Hello. Hello!

Professor, what's wrong

with your telephone?

Nothing should be the matter,

unless they've got enough

intelligence to cut the lines.

Jeff, I want you to get over to

the air base. I want emergency patrols.

He's dead.

Give me a hand with this.

Barricade those windows!

Have you got anything

we can nail across that window?

There's some lumber

in my laboratory.

- I've gotta get out!

- Oh, pull yourself together

and help me with this!

Well, at least lock the door!

Oh, never mind!

- Hey, Captain, give me a hand.

- Yes, sir.

If we'd only see them,

we'd know what to do.

- Is there any way to make them visible?

- Not that I know.

Unless it's a question of the amount

of atomic radiation that's available.

Hello? Hello, Kasper?

I want to talk to the colonel.

Hello? Hello, Kasper?

Are you there? Hello, hello?

I've got to get out of here,

I tell you!

Oh, no, no.

Melville, no, no.

Get back. Get back.

Melville, Melville,

get a grip on yourself.

- Get ahold of yourself.

- But l...

Why are they so quiet?

Maybe they're gonna leave us alone.

I doubt it. But they've

just put out a burst of energy.

Perhaps they need to rest.

Colonel Butler, how long does it take

to shut down your atomic plant?

- Why?

- If my theory is right,

without the radiation of which

I was speaking, these things must die.

- Good grief!

- What is it?

What do you see?

Let me through!

Hey, Jeff, Professor,

they're becoming visible!

Someone or something must have increased

the power at the atomic plant.

What have I unleashed?

- It's ghastly! It's horrible!

- You can say that again.

It all ties up with what

Dr. Warren explained to us.

Look carefully.

Al, get those sidearms.

I'm sure it's the atomic plant.

So long as it goes on,

they will multiply,

getting stronger and stronger.

Yeah, well,

we'll see about that.

Well, anyway, they're mortal.

Hold it!

You'll hit him!

- He's dead.

- We've got to stop 'em!

There's only one way:

Shut down your atomic plant.

Unless we shut off the radiation,

we'll all be destroyed.

- Heaven knows how many others.

- There's a dynamite shed

between here and the plant.

If I can get through,

I can blow up the control room.

Well, if that's the way

it's got to be.

- I'm afraid it is.

- Jeff!

Must it be you, Jeff?

- I know the control room layout.

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