The red brain
| Language | en |
|---|---|
| First published | 2026-01-31 |
| Rights | Public domain in the USA. |
| Gutenberg ID | #77823 |
Description
The red brain by Donald Wandrei is a science fiction short story written in the early 20th century. It centers on the last intelligent beings in a dying cosmos as they confront an all-consuming tide of cosmic dust and the delusions of a promised salvation. The narrative opens on a universe smothered by dust until only the star Antares remains, sealed under a crystal dome and inhabited by enormous, shape-shifting Brains—bodiless intellects who communicate by thought. In the Hall of the Mist, the Great Brain recounts countless failed attempts to disperse the dust—magnets, annihilation rays, vacuum engines, and willed force—before inviting any final remedy. A newly fashioned, enigmatic Red Brain rises, proclaiming certain victory and exalting itself in a fevered chant; then, turning hostile, it unleashes lethal will-impulses into the open minds around it. The assembled Brains collapse into inert slime as their thoughts—hence their lives—are extinguished in an instant. The story ends with hope for the universe annihilated, revealing the Red Brain’s triumph as mere madness. (This is an automatically generated summary.)