"You can call me Tom. I can't tell exactly where I am, because distances and locations have no meaning when a mind can reach anywhere. I don't think I'm very far away, though. As for what this means ... well, that's a little difficult to explain, Fran."
The voice—she knew now that it was more than just a voice—seemed to look out over an awesome vista, as if in search of some point of interest, some particular feature she could understand.
"You know about the war, Fran, and what happened to the big cities?"
"Yes. I've heard about that."
"Well, the war was fought with a new type of atom bomb, Fran. It was designed to keep people out of cities, because cities were centers of resistance. The bombs contaminated the cities with a deadly radiation that's still there. People had to leave—but many of them were affected by the radiation, and gave birth to children that were ... different. Some were monsters, Fran. And some ... well, they didn't look changed, but they were—in strange and wonderful ways. It all depended on the intensity of the radiations that produced them, you see.
"You're one of those changed children, Fran—and so am I. Our ability to receive each other's thoughts proves that. But what you really should know is that there's serious danger in letting ordinary people find out you're different. Because, Fran, when the monsters started appearing they were done away with—killed. People were afraid of them. And they're more afraid now than ever."
The voice she had come to identify as Tom seemed saddened. "You see, Fran, the war was the product of a machine age. But men have gone back to the soil. They had to. There aren't many machines left any more, and there's no way to build them or keep them going. So they've been wearing out, breaking down. People used machines to communicate with each other and spread ideas and knowledge. Without the machines, their world has grown smaller. They're afraid of things that aren't part of it. And we aren't of their little world, Fran. We're ... different. And for that reason they'll try to destroy us if they learn what we are.
"That mustn't happen, Fran. They've had their chance—and they've failed. We have a right to ours, but it's a right we must fight for. We must stay hidden and keep from being found out until we're ready.... So be careful, Fran. Don't let those around you discover your new abilities. They'll keep growing, I think. In some of us there's no way of knowing what heights will be reached."
"But isn't there something we can do?" she asked in silent, voiceless protest. "Isn't there some place we can go? Isn't there any hope for us at all?"