Then he put on the old man's breeks,

across the instrument nearest her, glancing around at the rest of the anonymous equipment. This is a more complex device than Id been led to believe. She turned and presented a politely inquiring expression to Thyrol. Well, ah, that is Come now, Thyrol, I am scarcely connected with the subversives. No, of course not. Killashandra diverted Thyrols attention from realizing that he had covertly admitted the existence of an underground organization by turning, once again, toward the front of the chamber and pointing at the access panel to the keyboard. Now the actual keyboard is beyond that panel, so the right-hand box houses the stops and voicing circuitry. And is that, she pointed to the largest unit, the CPU? The induction modulator and mixer must be in that left-hand cabinet. You are knowledgeable about organ technology? Thyrols expression assumed a wary blankness. For the second time since her arrival, Killashandra perceived empathic emanations from an Optherian: this time a strong sense of indefinable apprehension and alarm. Not as much about organs as I do about interface techniques, sensory simulators, and synthesizer modulators. Crystal singing requires a considerably wide range of experience with sophisticated electronic equipment, you know. He obviously didnt or he wouldnt have nodded so readily. Killashandra blessed her foresight in utilizing the sleep-teaching tapes she had copied from the Athenas comprehensive data retrieval system. Her answer reassured Thyrol and the shadow of his fear slowly dissipated. Of course there is a double handshake between the program, and he tapped the black case by him, and the composition memory banks. Composition, and he walked from one to the other, his hand lightly brushing the surfaces, of course leads directly into the recall excitor stimulator, for that uses the memory symbology of the median individual member of any audience so that a composition is translated into terms which have meaning to the auditors. Naturally the subjective experience of a program for Optherians would differ greatly from the experience a nonhuman would have. Of course, Killashandra murmured encouragingly. And the information from the crystal manual goes? Assuming the pose of a pompous lecturer, Thyrol pointed to the various units in flow sequence. Into the synapse carrier encoder and demodulator multiplexer, the top five digital cameras olympus both of which feed into the mixer for the sensory transducer terminal network. Beaming with pride, he continued, While the composition memory bank primarily programs the sensory synthesizer, the feedback loop controls the sensory attenuator for maximum effectiveness. I see. Keyboard to CPU, direct interface with manual and synapse carrier encoder, plus the double handshakes. Killashandra hid her shock this emotion manipulator made the equipment at Fuerte look like preschool toys. Talk about a captive audience! Optherian concertgoers hadnt a chance. The Optherian organ could produce a total emotional override with a conditional response unequaled anywhere. And a sufficient gauge of the audiences basic profile could be ascertained by matching ID plates and census data. Killashandra wondered that FSP permitted any of its citizens to visit the planet, much less to expose themselves to full-scale emotional overload at Festival time. I can see why youd need many soloists. Theyd be emotionally drained after each performance. We recognized that problem early on the performer is shielded from the full effect of the organ in order to retain a degree of objectivity. And, of course, in rehearsal the transducer system is completely bypassed and the signals inserted into a systems analyzer. Only the best compositions are played on the full organ system. Naturally. Tell me, are the smaller organs amplified in this fashion? The two-manual organs are. We have five of them, the rest are all single manual with relatively primitive synthesizer attentuator and excitor capability. Remarkable. Truly remarkable. Thyrol was not blind to the implied compliment and looked about to smile as the outside door opened to admit the work party. Behind them came three more men, their stance and costume identifying them as security. The work party stopped along the wall while the security trio tramped stolidly down to where Thyrol and Killashandra stood by the sensory feedback transponder. Elder Thyrol, Security Leader Blaz needs to know what disposition is to be made of the debris. He saluted, ignoring Killashandras presence. Bury it deep. Preferably encapsulated in some permaform. Sea trench would be ideal, Killashandra answered and was ignored by the security leader, who continued to look for an answer from Thyrol. Abruptly Killashandras