If you are reading this message, I am absent. Welcome to the dead man's boots: hope you don't find them too tight. You are one of only four people who have access to this machine (and at least two of them are dead or dying of K Syndrome).

You may: read all files not flagged with a Z-prefix, search all files not flagged with a Z-prefix, and print any files flagged with a prefix from A to Q.

You may not: read or search Z-prefix files. Print files flagged with a prefix from S to Z. Dismantle or reverse-engineer this instrument.

WARNING: LETHAL ENFORCEMENT PROTOCOLS ARE ENFORCED.

WRITE: GOTO MAIN MENU? Y/N:

This is Angleton. He doesn't bluff. I make a note of those clearances on my phone, then, hesitantly, I type Y.

I have, in fact, seen worse-designed user interfaces. There are abominations out there that claim to be personal media players that—but I digress. The Memex is a miracle of simplicity and good design, as long as you bear in mind that it's operated by foot pedals (except for the paper tape punch), the display is a microfilm reader, and it can't display more than ten menu choices on screen at any time. Unlike early digital computers such as the Manchester Mark One, you don't need to be Alan Turing and debug raw machine code on the fly by flashing a torch at the naked phosphor memory screen; you just need to be able to type on a Baudot keyboard using both feet (with no delete key and lethal retaliation promised if you make certain typos). There's nothing here that's remotely as hostile as VM/CMS to a UNIX hacker. I've just got an edgy feeling that the Memex is reading me, and sitting in quietly humming judgment. So I spend half an hour reading the quick start guide, and then . . .

WRITE: DOCUMENT TO RETRIEVE:

I find the shift pedal, kick the Memex into numerical entry mode, and type:

FETCH 10.0.792.560

NOT FOUND.

WRITE: DOCUMENT TO RETRIEVE:

Shit. I try again.

FETCH INDEX.

There is a whirring and a chunking sound from within the desk. Aha! After several sluggish seconds a new menu appears.

WRITE: ENTER DOCUMENT CODE NUMBER:

FETCH 10.0.792.560

More whirring and a brief pause. Then the screen clears, to display everything the Memex knows about the missing file:

DOCUMENT INDEX ENTRY:

NUMBER: 10.0.792.560

TITLE: THE FULLER MEMORANDUM

DEPOSIT DATE: 6-DECEMBER-1941

STORAGE LOCATION: STACK VAULT 10.0.792.560

COPY STATUS: FORBIDDEN

CLASSIFICATION: BEYOND TOP SECRET, Z-CLEARANCE

EXPIRATION: DOES NOT EXPIRE

CODEWORDS: TEAPOT, WHITE BARON, CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN

SEE ALSO: Z-ANGLETON, Z-EXECUTION PROTOCOLS, Z-FINAL EXIT

END OF INDEX ENTRY