If he could unravel that puzzle, he would be only one step behind his opponent. The closer he got to the solution, the more danger he would be in. The sweet voice saying that next time he would die came vividly into his mind. He must take every precaution and check every step. By this time they were used to his quiet pose.
Repetition becomes normal.
Now he was an unnoticed fixture in the computer's abode. He put himself into the mind of his unknown opponent for whom he was still constructing a mental model. He would use the model for understanding the kind of game played. His opponent obviously knew about ZAC's weakness, and so he had carefully designed the alien seed to fit into its program. Time disappeared, and John projected himself up to ZAC's metallic shell.