tact established.

12:17: Speech formation; voice of The Brain coming through.

There was this curious incident right at the start. Just as I was about
to begin my apologies, The Brain did exactly the same thing. Even The
Brain's calling signal differed in the wording and even more so in tone:

"Lee, Semper Fidelis, 39: sensitive, intelligent, a good man, he has
come at last."

I would call that a very handsome compliment, considering; being patted
on the shoulder by an intellectual giant of that size made me grow an
inch. And then The Brain apologized for its rudeness the other night.
The thing was fantastic; it revealed several things. First: The Brain's
extreme sensitivity; obviously it didn't recognize my last three calls
at the P. G. and had refused to come through because I had not been "in
the proper mood". Second: a quite amazing mental growth has taken place
in this past week. From The Brain's tone and manner alone I would
construe something like the image of an Eton boy of perhaps fifteen in
striped pants and holding his top hat in hand as he converses politely
with his Don. Ludicrous, but then I actually get that kind of picture.
No doubt; The Brain has greatly matured; that shows in every word it
says.

Best thing of all: the technique of our communication is rapidly
improving. Speech is, and probably always will remain, a very
considerable strain to The Brain. But now as mentally we get tuned-in
upon one another there is a growing understanding beyond words. Thus The
Brain, for instance, starts a sentence and I immediately can grasp its
meaning without its actually being said. This works the other way around
too. It means that my attitude plays a most vital role in this meeting
of the minds. This is good to know, it's an asset. Perhaps we can
dispense in time with audible speech altogether.

On the other hand it involves a considerable risk. For with The Brain's
uncanny mind reading I've got to control my attitude and guard my
emotional reactions because The Brain would immediately see through any
insincerity of feeling just as it sees through any intellectual
dishonesty. Thought exchange by "brainwave" is wonderful, even if we
still need a little speech as auxiliary. Thought sending and receiving
become simultaneous and they fuse. The sender observes how his message
is going over; the receiver aids the sender in the formation of the
thought and vice versa. Words cannot adequately describe this....