Infinity's Child

In Short

Set in a bleak, post-atomic landscape, the story follows Clifford Buckmaster, a resistance fighter dying of a mysterious, sensory-depleting plague. Buckmaster survives, only to realize his consciousness has been fundamentally altered, granting him a strange, compelling "Force" that drives him to assassinate the tyrannical General Koski. As Buckmaster navigates a world of political intrigue and lethal sabotage, he uncovers the startling truth of his own origin. The narrative serves as a meditation on free will, determinism, and the nature of reality itself, cementing its place as a classic of the genre.

The Story

Clifford Buckmaster begins his journey on the brink of death in a crowded hospital ward, ravaged by a plague that systematically strips away his senses. Just as his consciousness nears extinction, a strange, persistent "Force" takes hold of his mind. He miraculously recovers, only to be detained by James Wagner, the sadistic Director of Security for General Andrei Koski. Koski is an invader who carved a totalitarian state out of the ruins of North America after a devastating nuclear war.

Wagner attempts to recruit Buckmaster as a spy, but Buckmaster, driven by an implanted, imperious command to kill Koski, plays along with the regime's games while secretly feeding information to his underground resistance leaders. Through these interactions, Buckmaster discovers that his mind possesses the unique ability to probe the thoughts of others. He soon realizes that his sense of self is fragile; he has no clear memory of life before his sudden “conception” in the hospital.

Buckmaster attempts to kill Wagner, but the effort is thwarted by a mirror-based deception that leaves him captured and subjected to brutal torture. Facing death, Buckmaster learns that his "Force" is not an external controller, but an essential aspect of his own being. He manages to escape, eventually finding refuge with Gamoll, the General’s own son, who secretly opposes his father’s regime.

While in hiding, Buckmaster studies philosophy and physics, piecing together the harrowing truth: he is a figment of a greater mind’s imagination, a character in a dream-world where the people around him are mere automatons. This realization brings a crushing sense of solitude. He learns that the General possesses a "Weapon"—a crude but effective chemical device—that threatens to annihilate the entire continent. Buckmaster realizes the time has come to act. He attempts to infiltrate the General’s lair, but is cut down by guards.

In a final, impossible act of defiance, the Force intervenes, turning time backward. Buckmaster is granted one final opportunity. He returns to the basement, ignores the fatal bullets tearing through his body, and succeeds in killing the General. The story concludes on a meta-fictional plane, where two greater entities discuss the "project" of the world they created. The patient—the mind that imagined Buckmaster—reflects on the danger of granting free will to its creatures, ultimately deciding that the risk is worth the beauty of their existence.

How It Unfolds

The sensory void Buckmaster lies dying in a crowded, squalid ward as his senses of touch, sight, and hearing fail him. He experiences the total isolation of a mind trapped in a body that has ceased to function.

The unexpected return A mysterious, imperious compulsion forces his body to speak and move again, sparking his recovery. He finds himself in the hands of the Security Director, Wagner, who attempts to manipulate him into becoming a turncoat.

The underground resistance Buckmaster rejoins his fellow rebels, who remain deeply suspicious of his survival and his strange new mental powers. They debate whether he is a double agent or a vital asset in their war against Koski.

The failed betrayal Buckmaster attempts to kill Wagner in a confrontation that reveals a series of elaborate traps. He is captured and subjected to a campaign of refined, agonizing torture.

The philosophical awakening While hiding with Gamoll, Buckmaster consumes literature to understand the anomaly of his existence. He concludes that his world is a simulated dream and that he is a creature of a higher, suffering intelligence.

The final gambit Buckmaster attempts to reach the General to prevent the use of the apocalyptic Weapon. After an initial failure leads to his death, he is granted a temporal reprieve to complete his mission.

The cosmic resolution Buckmaster succeeds in his final task, killing the General. The narrative pulls back to reveal that the entire world is a mental construct, an experiment in free will that is allowed to continue despite the suffering it causes.

The People

Clifford Buckmaster serves as the lens through which we view this simulated world. He begins as a desperate, dying soldier but evolves into a man of terrifying agency. His quest is not just for political freedom, but for the ontological truth of his own soul. He ends his life as a hero who realizes his own insignificance.

James Wagner is the personification of authoritarian cruelty. Driven by sadism and an insatiable desire for power, he acts as the primary obstacle to Buckmaster’s mission. He is a man who believes he controls his environment, remaining oblivious to the fact that he, like his prisoner, is merely a puppet in a larger game.

General Andrei Koski is the aging, rigid architect of the regime. He clings to the dream of his lost homeland and the power of his mysterious Weapon. He represents the danger of a man who refuses to adapt to a changing reality, eventually becoming the catalyst for the destruction of the world he helped build.

Lester Oliver is the pragmatic leader of the Underground. He represents the human desire to maintain structure and logic in an irrational world. He is the one who forces Buckmaster to confront the reality of his predicament, though he remains trapped within the limited perspective of a created being.

In Its Own Voice

"Nothing was left except thought; stark, terrible, useless thought!"

This occurs as Buckmaster experiences total sensory deprivation, marking the moment his identity begins to shift.

"The sense of taste was always first to go."

The story opens with this clinical, chilling observation, grounding the cosmic horror of the plot in the physical decay of the protagonist.

"I am merely a figment of your imagination, as is everything else about you!"

Buckmaster discovers this devastating truth in an anonymous essay, which provides the key to understanding his existence.

What It's Really About

The book is an existential investigation into the nature of consciousness and the ethics of creation. It posits that if the universe is a mental construct—a "dream" of an Absolute—then human suffering is the price of the Creator’s desire for complexity. The narrative argues that free will is the defining characteristic of a "real" existence, even if that existence is ultimately an illusion. The conflict between Buckmaster and his controllers reflects the tension between the individual’s desire for self-determination and the deterministic nature of a reality that can be "wound back" or rewritten by higher forces. It is a story about the loneliness of being a mind trapped in a world that is not one’s own.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate the philosophical depth of Philip K. Dick or the dark, psychological stakes of mid-century science fiction will find this book deeply compelling. It reads with the urgency of a war story but pivots quickly into the territory of metaphysical thrillers.

The prose is stark and efficient, reflecting the brutal, desensitized world Buckmaster occupies. While the mid-century attitudes toward gender and the Cold War context are unmistakable, they serve as a backdrop for a story that feels surprisingly contemporary in its questioning of what is "real."

The book is not a light read; it is a dense, often grim exploration of pain and isolation. You may find the scientific or philosophical jargon—common to the 1950s style—to be a bit heavy at times, but these elements are essential to the book's central revelation. If you are interested in stories that challenge the boundary between the observer and the observed, or if you enjoy narratives that strip away the comfort of a reliable reality, this brief, intense story will stay with you long after the final page. It is a haunting, singular work that effectively uses the tropes of its time to examine the most timeless of questions.