Page 50 - An Evening with Maxwell's Daemons

The Phantom Limb

inverted Capgras delusion. In that weird outcome Cyphen would
believe he has become Barron and that his own arms and legs, in
fact, did not exist. Then Barron would have eight non-existent
limbs and remain in limbless limbo.”
“I hate to be the one raining on your parade,” said Rutger, his
countenance a forecast of fair and sunny weather, “but the brain-in-
a-box seeking world domination is an old plot device. Attaching it
neurologically to a limbless body and cybernetically to a bunch of
electrodes doesn’t seem sufficient to overcome the dead weight of
that old mind-control chestnut, if I may mix metaphors. I think the
Cerebellum of Evil should be a more active presence, stalking the
countryside and leaving its calling-card in the form of victims
mysteriously sapped of their vital fluids. Then you’d have a
mystery—but alas, another cliché. Perhaps my imagination is taxed
beyond its ability to pay. Sorry.”
“Hmm.” Fred did not seem pleased by any of this. “Well, on to
the next round!”

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