Henry Danters was a radio technician, his mind full of resonance circuits, modulators, and bandwidth ratios. He was also muscular in a wiry fashion that didn't readily show, gained from climbing around equipment and working on towers. He was also an acrophile, and he loved nothing more than to be high above the ground, looking at the scenery for miles around.
      Henry was a rational man, in love with life and people. He had a smile for everyone and did not easily make enemies. He did not fear others, since he had a way of getting to the heart of a problem before it flared. One day, Henry could be seen visiting an art exhibit opening, the next, drinking beer with bikers at a roadside bar. He turned away no one because of their beliefs, always seeing the good in everyone before judging them.
      Henry had one real fear, and that was having his bones burned by radio frequency emf. He had a feeling that he would one day spend a long time in the hospital, because one day, someone was bound to turn on the power to a high power transmitter on which he was working. That didn't stop him from working on them. It just made him very careful to leave warning signs on the units when he was working on them. It was not an irrational fear, but it was a fear nonetheless.
      Bones are made of hollow calcium, a metal, and they are the primary conductors of the body. They acted as antenna for radio frequency, even more so than nerves. He had heard of people that lived with damaged bones for the rest of their lives from having been within a strong radio field, along with massive nerve failure and brain damage. These were the lucky ones that survived.
      So he lived with this fear, one far greater than the fear of falling hundreds or thousands of feet to the ground. In that case, there was little chance that he'd survive to suffer long term problems. The fear made him very careful in his work. He would notify everyone on the job site that under no circumstances were any of the pieces of equipment to be touched until he notified them that he was finished.
      But one day, while he was up on a tower aligning an antenna after a violent wind storm, the manager's son was in the equipment room. He'd been told never to touch anything, but the fact that the station was off the air made him forget these warnings. He touched dials, turned knobs, and flipped switches like any boy that had a inclination for technology.
      On the tower, Henry felt the hair rise on his neck, and he knew that he was in trouble instantly. He felt the searing sensation rise in his neural network, and he screamed. The manager always kept the radio on in the lobby. The tuning dial had been frozen on the station and the off switch has been directly bypassed. The volume had been down, but it was unmistakable to him that the transmitter had come to life from the harsh whine that came from the receiver. He ran to the transmitter, but it was too late to do anything but turn off the power and the main transmitter power feed relay control. He called the tower installation and found that Henry was hanging limp from his safety strap, 850 feet above the ground. He called for an ambulance. 
 
 

 
      Henry woke in a hospital bed, surprised to be alive. It had taken him awhile to waken, but he found himself in a private room, the first clue to his whereabouts being the styrofoam pitcher and plastic cup on the rolling lap table just beyond the railing of the bed. He felt no pain, but he also felt none of the grogginess, as he came fully awake, that would have signaled sedation or pain killers in his system. He pressed his arm just above his wrist to put pressure on his bones, and he still felt no pain except that caused from squeezing quite hard. He chuckled in relief, also trying to bring the confusion under control. He had felt the burning before he passed out. He pulled up the sleeves on the gown and noted the cuts where the involuntary reaction of his muscles contracting under the electrical influence had pressed brutally into the angle struts of the tower before his legs buckled.
      He touched more of his body, probing for his bones, trying to find places where they were burned. He found none on his front side. He reached over for the rail to turn himself onto his side, and he was shocked by a static charge. This puzzled him more than the lack of injury. Then he noticed that none of the sensors of the monitoring equipment had been hooked up to him. He reached for the call button, but touching it shocked him again. But he saw that the call light on the panel was now lit where it hadn't been moments before.
      A nurse appeared a few moments later. The look of concern on her face faded, and a smile began to replace it. "You're awake." she said somewhat breathlessly. Her breathing increased and her eyes rolled up into her head, and she leaned against the wall and slumped to the floor, a huge grin on her face. As she breathed heavily, she exhaled noises that Henry associated with the bedroom. One of her legs had caught in the door, propping it part way open. He saw someone dressed in white pass, and he called out for help.
      A face peered in, one of another nurse. "That nurse is having problems. Would you help her, please?" The nurse peering in looked down, shut her eyes and sighed, and started exhibiting the same symptoms. "Hey! You! Wake up!"
      The nurse looked at him. "Yes?" she asked dreamily.
      "Get some help!"
      "Oh, yes. Oh, my. She backed out of the door and vanished. He heard her thump against the wall just beyond the door. A short while later, he heard her footsteps diminish down the hall. A couple of minutes spent staring at the nurse acting so peculiarly finally saw an end with a doctor looking in the door. He reacted the same way. He backed off without words, having seen the situation inside Henry's room. About a minute later, the nurse shifted to lie fully on the floor, still exhaling the noises that were beginning to get on Henry's nerves. A couple of more shocks when he touched the rail kept him in bed when his impatience began to play on him.
      But soon a large pair of arms got a hold of the nurse's foot and dragged her out the door. Then the door shut and nothing happened for a few minutes except muffled speaking through the wall.
      Henry was tired of being in bed, so he stood on the mattress and hopped down to the floor over the foot of the bed, careful not to contact metal. He sat in a wooden and vinyl chair and waited for somebody to answer his calls. The door opened a small amount, and a man spoke to him. "Mr. Danters, I am Dr. Menks. I have been assigned to your case. Can you tell me what happened to Nurse Jenkins?"
      "She walked in the room, started acting funny like the other two did. I assume the second one was you. The difference was that you two left. The first nurse didn't. She stood there holding the door open, and then melted to the floor, acting like she was late into a hot date or something. She leaned against the wall doing that until she slumped to the floor. Is she okay?" Henry inquired.
      "She seems to be recovering. We moved her to a vacant room. How are you feeling?" the doctor asked.
      "Other than shocking myself every time I touch bare metal or something electrical, I feel just fine. How long have I been unconscious?"
      "You were admitted yesterday afternoon."
      "So I've been out about a day. Why wasn't I burned?" asked Henry.
      "We don't know. From what was told to us, I am surprised to see you alive."
      "That makes two of us. What in the world is going on?"
      "We don't know. I've never seen anything quite like this."
      "Are you okay?"
      "Yes." the doctored assured him.
      "What did you and the nurses feel?"
      "It's hard to describe. It was extremely pleasant, actually."
      "From the way the nurse was acting, I could have figured that out for myself. Can you feel it now, hiding behind the wall?"
      "I can feel a trace of it, but nothing like when I was looking at you. Has this ever happened to you before?" the doctor inquired.
      "No. Why weren't these monitors hooked up to me?"
      "We couldn't get them to work."
      "There were people in here touching me while I was unconscious?"
      "Yes," replied the doctor, " and there was not this phenomenon."
      "Was anyone shocked touching me? Static charge sort of thing?"
      "No. I touched you several times myself examining you. I was never shocked."
      "So except for sensitive detection equipment, there was nothing unusual with me while I slept." Henry surmised.
      "Correct. You sound like you know electrical things pretty well."
      "I'm a radio technician. I ought to know."
      "How is your ability to think?"
      "No problems there, at least none that I can detect. This is weird. I'm no doctor, but I did have the effects of radio frequency electrical burns described to me in detail. I have none of those symptoms. I also know that I should not be holding this big of a static charge. And I have never affected anyone in the way the nurse was exhibiting. None of this makes the least bit of sense to me. Am I alive? Is that my heart I feel beating? Can you tell me how my vitals read?"
      "They were a little off, but within normal parameters."
      "I'm hungry. Can I have something to eat?" Henry requested.
      "The kitchen just closed for lunch, and I don't think it's wise that you eat anything just yet."
      "Doctor, I'm not mildly hungry. I am ravishingly hungry. This is not the sort of thing that will wait until dinner. Get me something to eat, or I'm going out for burgers or something. Isn't there a lounge here with vending machines? I want protein and carbohydrates something fierce."
      "How long have you been hungry? Since you woke?"
      "I guess, but it's gotten very noticeable in the last few minutes, and it's getting worse. Right now, I'm about to say to hell to caution in favor of getting something to eat. I'm about to start chewing on this chair!"
      "Are you out of bed?" the doctor inquired, mildly alarmed.
      "Yes. I'm in no pain, and I got tired of bumping into the bed's railing. There is no exposed metal in the chair. I feel just fine. I'm not dizzy sitting up. I feel quite normal except for the hunger. I haven't eaten since dinner the day before yesterday. I grabbed a small snack yesterday morning before the accident. It wasn't but a few bites."
      "I'm not sure that your eating is such a good idea until we find out more about what we are dealing with here."
      "Doc, if I don't get some food delivered here, I'm going out for it myself. Do you want me roaming the halls of this hospital?"
      "Hold on. I'll get a nurse to go get you something."
      "Protein and carbohydrates. Burger and fries, chicken and rice, steak and potatoes, noodles, eggs and bacon. I want something solid. Meat, bread, beans, rice, spuds. I want something I'll know I've eaten, something that will stick to my ribs. No steamed veggies or light snacks. I want something solid. I'll eat a few bites and see how it sets with me first. But get me something to eat!" growled Henry.
      "Okay. We'll get you something."
      "Lots of it!"
      "Okay. Settle down."
      "I can't help it! I need to eat!"
      "I'll be back."
      "With food!"
      The doctor let the door close. Henry got up and paced for the fifteen minute wait until there was a knock at the door. A tray full of food was pushed through the door. He waited for the door to close. Then he set the tray in his lap. His hunger was so fierce that he ate furiously until there was no food left on the tray. Once during his ravished feast, the door opened and the doctor ordered him to stop eating in a wavering voice, but Henry didn't hear him, so focused he was on eating. Once finished, he sat back in the chair sated and let his stomach begin digestion. He noticed sounds coming from out in the hall, but he paid them little mind. Before long, it became quiet again.
      A little later, the doctor came on the intercom from the call panel. "Mr. Danters, why didn't you stop eating when I told you to do so?"
      "I was hungry. It didn't hurt me any. I feel fine now."
      "You might feel fine, but we had to evacuate about fifteen rooms in this wing, along with a nurses' station. The effect that you induced in the nurse began to get through the walls after you started eating. We now can not approach your door without falling under the influence of the effect."
      "Hmmm. I guess you want me out of here, then."
      "Mr. Danters, we don't dare move you now. Can you imagine the chaos you'd create moving around? If you got near the street, it would be mayhem. We can not take that kind of a chance."
      "Oh. I didn't think of that. I guess it affects everybody. Listen, I have an idea. These shocks happen to me when I come in contact with metal. Do you think that an rf cage might block this effect?"
      "An rf cage?" the doctor inquired.
      "A metal box. One big enough to hold me, but it would have to be insulated on the inside. This chair has metal springs, but they aren't shocking me. And there would have to be a breathing vent, one with corners so there would be no straight line openings. This seems to be line of sight in the way it operates. It might be a good idea to insulate the outside as well so that no one touches the metal when I'm in it. Do you think that we might try something like this? If that were to work, you could send me someplace private away from everything."
      "Do you really think this would work?"
      "I don't see why not. It makes good sense to me. I'm broadcasting something that affects peoples minds, right?"
      "I would guess so." the doctor concurred.
      "From what you have said, the effect is pleasant. I would therefore surmise that I am emitting some sort of power that resonates in the pleasure center of the brain. From what I saw of the nurses and you, that would fit. It first worked when I woke and increased when I ate. At first, it was stopped by the walls, but then it obviously got stronger as I ate and fed my body with nutrients.
      "This acts like a radio. Low power waves are absorbed by things such as walls, but as it becomes more powerful, only metal or strong magnetic fields will block it. Before you try bringing in the box, lets try this. Can you get a sheet of something from the x-ray lab that you can use as a shield? If not, a piece of sheet metal. Metal roofing ought to do it. It will need some insulated handles so you don't touch the metal. Try approaching my room with this between you and me. If I'm right, you should be able to walk past my door with no problem. If that works, see about getting a metal box to get me out of here."
      "It's worth a try. I'll get back to you."
      Henry tried to touch metal, and the shock was stronger, supporting his theory. He had hopes of getting out of the hospital.
      An hour later, the doctor came back on the intercom to tell him that the metal shield had worked. Henry suggested a company that might have such a metal box available. He asked that the box be delivered with a good sized meal in it, feeling that he was bound to get hungry again. 
 
 

 
      The next morning, the box arrived at his door. The intercom told him that it was ready for him to enter. He opened the door with a bed sheet as insulation. It tingled his hand, but it was bearable. He crawled in the box and shut the door. He hollered to those outside that he was inside. He was told in return that it seemed to be working. He felt the box being moved for the next two hours. He was told to stay inside for ten minutes once they arrived at a location. He waited and came out. He was met by someone in a metallic suit. When the person turned to look at him, he noticed it was a woman. On closer inspection, he noticed it was the nurse that had collapsed on the hospital floor the day before.
      "Hi. Can you hear me?" she asked.
      "Yes. How about you?"
      "Scratchy, but you're loud enough. I might have to ask you to repeat yourself. But I can hear you well enough."
      "What's your name? I heard Jenkins yesterday."
      "Marion. "
      "Does that suit protect you?"
      "Yes. It's designed for use in high electrical discharge areas. The face plate is highly leaded glass."
      "Why did you wind up as the guinea pig?"
      "I volunteered. Actually, to be honest, I wouldn't have minded if this suit hadn't worked. I wouldn't mind feeling again what I felt yesterday."
      "What did it feel like?" Henry inquired.
      "Best thing I ever felt in my life. It was wonderful."
      "Like sex?"
      "Better. Similar, but without all the work and stress to the body."
      "Elevated heart rate?"
      "A little, but not much."
      "Like a wire head?"
      "Wire head? Oh, I know what you mean. I wouldn't know for sure, but quite likely it was. Direct stimulation to the pleasure center is what you're talking about, isn't it? Yes. Hold on, I'm being paged. I'll have to turn off this intercom for a minute while I talk by radio."
      "Check and see if I interfere with your signal." Henry suggested.
      "Okay."
      She was quiet for a couple of minutes, but a bit of sound came through the suit, and he could see her lips moving. He made out a few of the words reading her mouth, but most of it was lost on him. He took time to look around him. He was situated out in the countryside, in a low spot. He spotted several people standing on the hillside, and he noticed a couple of the closer ones sitting down. He figured that it was a field test of his range. He eyed the furthest affected at being about four hundred yards.
      He did a quick computation in his head and came up with two tenths square miles or a hundred and thirty acre circle. This came to a square of property just under half a mile to a side if he stayed in the middle. To have any elbow room, he'd need a full square mile. At nearly three thousand dollars an acre, this came close to a price tag of two million dollars. Added to that were property taxes, delivery service for everything, voice activated devices for everything metal, an underground bunker. He figured three million initial and a quarter million yearly, at least. He was not cheered by the aspects of being a prisoner of the government.
      Marion turned back to him. "Could you get back in the box and try on one of these suits?" She handed him a box, obviously holding a suit as she wore. He hoped someone had guessed his size correctly. He went back inside the cramped space and got the suit on with difficulty. It tingled his skin, obviously having a tight metal weave sandwiched with a plastic, which was not thick enough to fully insulate him. But he endured it and came back outside. He looked off in the distance and saw everyone standing. He turned to Marion. She started removing her suit.
      He pointed at his head when she looked at him. He moved his mouth. She lifted her helmet and showed him a chin activated switch. He pressed it and received a mild shock. "The insulation isn't quite good enough. It tingles like an itch. I'm going back in the box and take it off. I'm not going to be able to stand this."
      "Okay. I'll get suited up again. By the way, there was no radio interference. I'll tell everyone to clear the area."
      "Thanks."
      Henry returned into the metal box and removed the suit. He asked if everything was set for him to come out. He was told that everything was ready for his exit. He came out and sat up on the box. Marion came over and stood before him.
      "Are you having problems?" she inquired.
      "Only when I think about my future. I'm going to wind up being a caged animal as the government's guest if I can't figure a way to come up with several million dollars."
      "There's a science crew coming here to study your case. I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. You'll be well cared for."
      "But I want to care for myself. I don't want to be ordered about for the rest of my life. I'm used to doing things for myself. You said that you wouldn't mind experiencing the effect again. Would you pay money to experience it again?" he asked.
      "Yeah, I don't think I'd mind paying for that. I've paid a heck of a lot for lesser pleasures."
      "How about twenty five dollars for an hour of that?"
      "Sure. What are you thinking?"
      "A hundred an hour?" he asked.
      "That might be a bit steep. Twenty five would be no problem, though. More than that and I might not use it much."
      "Okay. Twenty five times let's see. Five, two eighty squared times point two. Do you have a calculator handy?"
      "Yes, as a matter of fact."
      "Get it out and figure for me."
      "Hold on. Okay, ready."
      "Five two eight oh squared times point two."
      "Five million, five hundred seventy five thousand.
      "Times point six five. Two places is enough to tell me."
      "Okay. Three point six two million."
      "Divide by twenty eight."
      "A hundred twenty nine thousand."
      "Call it a hundred thousand. An average two to a car, fifty thousand parking places. Four hundred square feet per car. Two million square feet. Divide two million by five two eight oh squared."
      "Point oh seven."
      "Is that right?" he demanded.
      "I can do it again. Yep. Point oh seven."
      "Point seven. That's more like it. Twenty million square feet, not two. Okay, on a square mile, I could park fifty thousand cars and admit roughly a hundred and thirty thousand people. Twenty five dollars at the outer ring. Fifty dollars for the middle ring, and a hundred for the inner ring. That would average out at thirty five to forty per person. Call it thirty five times a hundred thirty thousand."
      "Four point five five million."
      "Plus another quarter for parking at five a pop. Four point eight million dollars a pop at full capacity, plus concessions, once word spreads. Expenses. Parking attendants, ticket sellers, ushers, security. We're talking maybe five hundred people at an average of ten an hour, no, seven an hour. Four hours per show. Make it six. Forty two times five hundred. Twenty one thousand. Parking would pay for that. Expenses. A square mile of land, fifty thousand parking places, a shelter for me between shows, pads for lying down, two hundred thousand. Insurance. Taxes. Fences, place dividers, suits for security, miscellaneous. I would think twenty million would cover it. I could pay that off in a month and still be rich. Marion, do you have a head for business?"
      "Not really, but I have a brother that is a promoter." she offered.
      "How would you and your brother like to go into business with me if this turns out to be a permanent thing?" he offered.
      "What if it doesn't?"
      "Then all the better for me. I'll get my freedom back."
      "You make it sound lucrative."
      "Two shows a day on week ends. Once word spreads, we could probably net three to four million a show. Say a conservative ten million a weekend. We pick a spot right on an interstate for traffic purposes. I arrive by armored car the night before, stay underground and come up for four times a weekend, weather permitting. How quickly did you recover from exposure?"
      "Almost right away." she stated.
      "No side effects?"
      "I wanted more, but not that badly."
      "Okay. Keep this to yourself. I want to see what the science team discovers. I would like you to stay around for the tests. Would you?"
      "If they will let me."
      "I think they will if I insist."
      "Probably. It is a temptation to open this suit." she admitted.
      "Do you know where the furthest man sat down?"
      "Yes, I see the spot."
      "I'd like you to go beyond that, and then let me walk toward you. I'll get close to you, then return here. Then you get suited again and join me. Tell the doctor that we would like to try that. I want you to know the difference in distance so we can discuss this. I want some specifics for how to space the rings for pricing seats."
      "Okay. Let me check."
      Henry waited a minute and then she, "Okay. They approve. Have you eaten recently?"
      "On the way over, about an hour ago."
      "Okay. I'll wave both arms when I'm ready. How is your vision?"
      "Excellent." he said.
      "Okay. I'm on my way. 
 
 

 
      Henry underwent the tests from the science team. He picked up a good deal of additional information. Over the next weeks, Henry's powers to please increased slightly with a balanced diet. He also found gloves that allowed him to touch people without shocking them. 
 
 

 
      Henry sat on the dais of the arena, reading a magazine, people all around him muttering at the wash of pure pleasure, combining into a quiet roar that made reading difficult, but he had learned how over time. For two hours a day, four days a week, he sat out in the open. For him, it was better than nothing. But Henry had little joy. The only other time Henry got to see people without a barrier between him and them were the private sessions he gave to loyal employees and those that paid five thousand dollars an hour. But he couldn't touch them. He gave joy, but he received little in return.
      Marion continued to be his only source of happiness. He wasn't sure if she was there for the money and pleasure, or if she genuinely cared for him. But she was good company, and he wasn't about to run her off with accusations when he was in a bad mood. And he still had television, as long as used the special remote control.
      At least he was his own boss, even if he was tired of hearing people having a good time without him. It was better than sitting in a box being told what to do. Now his only master was the weather, and that was nothing new. And he was making people happy, or at least giving them pleasure. That accounted for something. Getting rich had ceased to amuse him after the first twenty million net income. It just couldn't buy him what he wanted most. 
 
 

 
      Four years later, Henry's power faded suddenly during the week, during the three days the show didn't run. He was happy to see them go. All told, he had netted over six billion dollars during the four years. Marion and her brother split two billion net, Marion for being his nurse, and her brother for promoting the show and handling the lawyers that settled all the legal aspects. Henry sold the land for a pittance, some nine million, to a speculator who had attended regularly in the first ring, front row, and wanted to make it into a museum.
      The first thing he did after losing his powers was to ask Marion to marry him. They had a very long honeymoon. Marion would have been just as glad to have cut it short, but she figured she owed him for all the times that he had pleased her so thoroughly, and Henry was determined to make up for lost time.