egs, stretching his arms while clear
water flowed soothingly over him. In spite of his skepticism, this
primitive prescription of Doumya Filone seemed to work. The itch had
stopped completely; although his skin was now mottled. No scars; the
hospital and Doumya Filone had done a good job.

He scrutinized his skin carefully. The marks were not actually on his
skin; they were beneath it. So faint as to be almost invisible, it was
nevertheless a disturbing manifestation. The marks gradually became more
distinct. It looked like a shadowy web thrown over and pressed deep into
his body.

* * * * *

The autobath lifted him and he stood in front of the mirror. There was
no mistake--a network spread over his body, arms, legs, face too;
perhaps on his head as well, though he couldn't see that. His skin was
not transparent--it was translucent for a certain depth.

Disfigurement didn't concern him. Even if the condition persisted, it
wasn't noticeable enough to constitute a handicap. It was not the
superficial nervous system showing through, nor the capillary blood
vessels. The web effect was strikingly regular, almost mathematical in
appearance.

As he looked, the translucence faded and his skin switched to normal,
the marks disappearing. That was the word, switched. He ought to be
thankful for that, he supposed. Somehow he wasn't.

He was out of the autobath and half dressed before the realization came
to him. He knew what the network was, the patterned marks beneath his
skin.

A circuit.

A printed circuit, or, since it was imposed on flesh, possibly tattooed.

[Illustration]

A circuit. What did anyone use a circuit for? To compute, to gather
data, to broadcast, to control. How much of that applied to him, to the
body it was concealed in? The first he could eliminate. Not to compute.
As for the rest, he was not certain. It seemed possible that everything
could be included in the function of the network beneath his skin. He
hadn't been controlled up to now, but that didn't mean control wasn't
there, quiescent, waiting for the proper time. However, it didn't seem
likely. Human mentality was strong, and a reasonably intact mind was
difficult to take over.

What else? To gather data and broadcast it. Of that he could be almost
positive. The data came from his nervous system. He suspected where it
was broadcast to--back to the police.

How the circuit on his body gathered data was unkno