ing," he said in a startled voice.

The voice appeared delighted.

"Good morning, Dr. Lee: I'm Vivian Leahy of Apperception Center 27; I'm
to be your guide on the way up. Now, Dr. Lee, will you please step over
to the glideways. They're to your right. Take glideway T, do just as you
would in a department store--" she giggled, "--stand on it and it will
get you right to the occipital cortex area. I'll be waiting for you over
there. I would have loved to come down and conduct you personally, but
it's against regulations; I'll explain to you the reasons why in a
little while. And if you have any questions while en route, just call
out. So long, Dr. Lee; I'll be seeing you...."

Greatly bewildered by this gushing reception Lee found it hard to follow
instructions, simple as they were. The array of escalators which he
found in a side wing was a formidable one and confusing with movements
in all directions, crisscrossing and overlapping one another. Despite
the very clear illuminated signs Lee almost stepped upon glideway "P"
when "the voice" warned him:

"Oh no, Dr. Lee; just a little to your left--that's fine, that's the
one--there."

Obviously his loquacious guardian angel could not only hear him but
watch his steps as well. Apart from being uncanny, this was
embarrassing; feeling reduced to the mental age of the nursery, he
gripped the rails of "T" which went with him into a smooth and noiseless
upward slide. The shaft was narrow, there was little light at the start
and it grew dimmer as he went. After a minute or so the darkness had
turned almost complete and became oppressive. Simultaneously there was a
disquieting change from the accepted normal manner in which escalators
are supposed to move. Its rise gradually turned perpendicular and in
doing so the steps drew apart. Before long Lee felt squeezed into some
interminable cylinder, standing on top of a piston as it were, a piston
which moved with fair rapidity along transparent walls. That these walls
were either glass or transparent plastics he could perceive from objects
which came streaking by with faint luminosity. They looked like columns
of amber colored liquids in which were suspended what looked like giant
snakes, indistinct shapes, but radiant in the mysterious manner of deep
sea fishes. They almost encircled the transparent cylinder shaft in
which Lee moved; there were many of them; how many Lee couldn't even
attempt to guess. The swiftness of his ascent