Only the skeletal remains of buildings languished in the mist and ash. Scattered fires burned on the street of corpses as the medics walked slowly with a stretcher, searching for survivors. In front of a burned-out tram stop, a corpse sat on the ground with his back to the pole of a streetlamp. Most of his chest had been blown open and charred. As they approached, a sound like phonograph static emerged from the corpse. Its jaws began to move, and it spoke in a voice reminiscent of a recording: “The first conclusion of the argument is that a grapefruit tree is indeed a cinchona tree. The second is that fire is only fire if the conditions are correct. In fact, there is only one main condition–the quality of the person who started the fire. Should this condition not be met, then one cannot conclude that it is fire which one sees burning. The third conclusion, as certain as the first and second, is that…” The sound suddenly stopped as one of the medics checked the wrist of the victim. There was none. “Dead,” said the firstmedic. “Dead for a long time. And not an automaton.” “What is this?” asked the other medic. “Dark magic,” said the other, straightening up. “The worst possible or imaginable kind.” They continued forward, following the railway. A body lying facedown on the rails twitched. They rushed over, lay the stretcher down, and examined the victim. Other than some scratches, the body seemed unharmed. Again, the first medic crouched down to feel the wrist. “Alive!” he shouted, gently turning the body over. The body began to talk in the same phonographic voice: “The first conclusion of the argument is that a grapefruit tree is indeed a cinchona tree. The second is that fire is only fire if the conditions are correct. In fact, there is only one main condition–the quality of the person who started the fire. Should this condition not be met, then one cannot conclude that it is fire which one sees burning…” The body jumped up with great agility and ran off. The medics picked up the stretcher and were about to continue when they heard the voice from the corpse cry out: “Would you like to continue the discussion? Would you like to hear the third conclusion?” The medics ran along the rails away from the tram stop behind them. Several blocks away, they stopped to catch their breath next to a bonfire of broken furniture. “And what is that?” asked the first medic. “Not fire,” said the second, “or fire. Horror.”
the lost way 