Benton was dazed. He seemed to have lost all his drive, his determination to wreck Urei. A reaction was setting in; his hand trembled weakly as he reached for the key and removed it from the slot. He looked at it dully, then let his eyes rest on the bunch from which he had removed it. The large, distinctive key was still with the bunch. The one in his shaking hand was smaller, entirely dissimilar.
"It was better that I let you go this far, anyway," came the silent mental voice. "I was going to let you see this room, sooner or later. Go on in."
Benton's eyes opened a bit wider, but still held the dazed look. The door was swinging wide, by itself. Almost stumbling, he felt his way through the maze of baffles, heedless of the fact that the further he went the more he exposed himself to the deadly, hard rays generated by the pile. Without armor, Benton had intended to enter swiftly, throw the master switch which would kill the pile, then retreat as fast. Now, however, he didn't even think of it. His brain was dulled by defeat after those many hours of rigid control which had been so useless.
But it didn't matter; the pile was already dead.
"This pile was self-maintaining," the voice explained. "It never needed attention, and if something went wrong it would have warned everybody within miles with the sirens. So it's no wonder that nobody ever discovered that I killed it years ago. The thing made me nervous, being so close."
Benton's eyes brightened a little. No amount of letdown could entirely extinguish his scientific curiosity, and this was a mystery he had to solve.
"But you've been operating.... The entire building was powered with this pile. Even the lights...."
There was a mental chuckle. "Sub-cosmic energy does it. I had the technicians hook it up years ago. It's more dependable, also more plentiful, as well as free. Man will discover its use in a few generations, I imagine. Now, my fine friend, if you're temporarily over your murdering rampage, suppose you return to the control room. There's some interesting stuff coming over the television, if you turn it on."
Benton was suddenly aware that the gong had ceased to sound. The defective tube had been replaced and Urei was once again operating. There was no sign of commotion when he came upon his men; they were working on the new circuits, just as he had left them.