Rex Ex Machina - Frederic Max

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Rex ex Machiner by Frederick Max. The domination of the
minds of tractable man is not new. Many men have
dreamed of it. Certainly some of them have tried. This
man succeeded one final lesson, a dying man's last letter

(00:25):
to his only son that completes the young man's education.
My dear son, the doctors have left, and I am
told that in a few hours I shall die. In
my lifetime, the world has progressed from the chaotic turmoil
of the early atomic era to the peacefulness and tranquility

(00:49):
of our present age, and I die content. For ten
years I have instructed you in all that you will
need for the future. When no lesson remains to be taught.
On the wall of my bedchamber hangs a citation from
a grateful government for services too secret to be herein

(01:12):
set forth. In past years, you have asked me repeatedly
about this citation, but each time I have taken pains
to avoid the direct answer. Now it is proper that
you should know. Forty years ago I was an obscure
Army captain stationed at the Armed Forces Language School in Monterey, California.

(01:37):
I had at that time just completed a tour of
duty in Korea, a minor skirmish of that era, and
despite an excellent reputation for resourcefulness, I had drawn Monterey
as my next assignment. An aptitude for foreign languages had
led to an instructorship in the Russian Department, with additional

(01:59):
duties instructing in the Slavic tongues. My life was pleasant
and uneventful, and it was with mixed emotions that I
received orders to report to Washington for a new duty assignment.
The chain of events which precipitated those orders were to
change the world. For while you and I were playing

(02:22):
on the lawn of our Monterey home, an unknown Hungarian
physicist working under Russian supervision had made a startling discovery.
Within a matter of days, alarming rumours of his work
reached Washington. Our embassies in Moscow and Belgrade reported furious
activity in the field of psychic research and large scale

(02:42):
experiments in masship noticis. Four of us were selected to
investigate the rumours. Before we could commence our undertaking, word
reached Washington that the rumours were now actualities. A device
capable of the massive notice of great segments of the
world's population was rapidly reaching perfection. After three months of

(03:07):
intensive grooming in the fields of physics and psychology, we
for agents set out individually with orders to track down
and destroy both a scientist and his machine. I never
saw the other three again. During the three months of schooling.
Other members of our vast intelligence organization had been engaged

(03:29):
in laying the groundwork for our efforts. In December nineteen
fifty five, I slipped into Russia and took the place
of a government official who felt that Western civilization offered
greater reimbursement than Soviet communism. I entered into my new
role with trepidation, but my fears were unfounded. Thanks to

(03:52):
a remarkable resemblance which was the original reason for my selection,
and also due to a mostorough briefing, I found myself
making the substitution with ease. I pride myself on the
fact that by diligent application, I was able to increase
my worth to the Russian government to the extent that

(04:13):
I was shortly able to secure my transfer to the
psychological Warfare section of the Secret Police. From there, it
was a simple procedure to have myself assigned to what
was known as Project Parchak. The device was in its
final stage of development, only the problem of increasing its

(04:33):
effective range remained to be solved. Three weeks after my
assignment to the project, its successful conclusion was accomplished. In
June nineteen fifty six, the Russian government ordered me to
a small house on the outskirts of Brailia, Hungary, where
I was to attend a private showing of the device

(04:55):
by design. I arrived one day early and made my
way to the labora tree. Immediately. Dr Michael Parchak, the inventor,
stood facing me as I entered. On a table. Between
us lay a small, complicated mechanism resembling a radio transmitter.
But it was infinitely more than that. The device was

(05:18):
a thought generator, capable of hypnotizing every thinking creature on
the face of the earth. The power of infinite goodness
or evil which the machine embodied was terrifying to consider.
I listened to Parchak's boasting with revulsion. Although he had
the ability to work for the ultimate good of mankind,

(05:40):
this creature intended instead to use his newly found power
for selfish aggrandizement. I drew him out, let him explain
the inner workings of his device and killed him. My
orders were to destroy the machine. I disobeyed them, utilizing

(06:01):
the machine to make good my escape. I left Hungary
and returned to the United States. The citation which you
have seen was only one of the many honours which
were bestowed upon me. A few weeks later, I resigned
my commission and retired to a country hideaway to experiment
further with the device. I was supposed to have destroyed

(06:24):
the peace and tranquility in which we of the earth
now live. Marked the successful culmination of my experiments, you
will find the machine walled up in the north alcove
of my bedchamber. Your education is now complete, my son,
use it well. Be kind to our slave peoples. The

(06:47):
world is yours, your affectionate father. France is the first
Emperor of the Earth. End of rex Ex Machiner by
Frederick Max