phant in his tracks, freeze
him, but beyond that will leave him intact. When he comes out of it,
he's just the same as before, nothing changed." He seized a pointer
and adjusted the controls so as to enlarge the image on the screen.
"However, a freezer can be converted to a retrogression gun, and
that's illegal." He traced the connections with the pointer. "If this
wire, instead of connecting as it does, is moved to here and here, the
polarity is reversed. In addition, if these four wires are
interchanged, the freezer becomes a retrogressor. As I said, it's
illegal to do that."

* * * * *

The manager scrutinized the circuits closely and grunted in disgust.
"Whoever converted this did a sloppy job. Here." He bent over the gun
and began manipulating micro-instruments. He worked rapidly and
surely. A moment later, he snapped the weapon together and
straightened up, handing it to Luis. "There," he said proudly. "It's a
much more effective retrogressor than it was. Uses less power too."

Luis swallowed. Either he was mad or the man was, or perhaps it was
the society he was trying to adjust to. "Aren't you taking a chance,
doing this for me?"

The manager smiled. "You're joking. A tenth of the freezers we sell
are immediately converted into retrogressors. Who cares?" He became
serious. "Do you still want to know who bought it?"

Luis nodded--at the moment he didn't trust his voice.

"It will take several hours. No charge though, customer service. Tell
me where I can reach you."

Luis jotted down the number of the screen at the Shelter and handed it
to the manager. As he left, the manager whispered to him: "Remember,
the next time you buy a freezer--ours can be converted easier than the
one you have."

He went out into the sunlight. It didn't seem the same. What kind of
society was he living in? The reality didn't fit with what he had
re-learned. It had seemed an orderly and sane civilization, with
little violence and vast respect for the law.

But the fact was that any school child--well, not quite _that_ young,
perhaps--but anyone older could and did buy a freezer. And it was
ridiculously easy to convert a freezer into something far more
vicious. Of course, it was illegal, but no one paid any attention to
that.

This was wrong; it wasn't the way he remembered....

He corrected himself: he didn't actually remember anything. His
knowledge came from tapes, and was obviously inadequ