by Con Pederson
around the corner, he descended from the noise of thehouse, opening his mouth and inhaling the cool night air as though tocleanse his lungs. He was growing extremely weary of the people atparties.
From here he could see the town laid out below, the four directions ofit, and he tried to guess how many times he had walked each street oneend to the other, then turned around and walked back, simply because noone ever considered going straight on.
At that moment a tall, lean man approached him. He was a stranger, witha bearing Sethos did not recognize.
"How do you do, Sethos," he said softly. "I understand you are the mostaccomplished of your group. May I ask a few questions?"
Someone from across town, obviously. He knew the type--they traveledbetween the cliques, learning of new trends and ideas to pirate. He haddone it once himself.
"I'm sorry. I don't have any new goodies for your side of town. Whydon't you go in and pester Brin? He's always easy to tap."
"You misjudge me. I'm not interested in stealing ideas."
"I know, I know. But I'm not for sale anyway."
Angered, Sethos turned and strode down the hill. The nerve of theseapprentices, he thought. Some day they'll ask for autographed samples.
He stopped. A small autocar had caught his attention. On a wild impulse,he opened the door. "Good evening, little servant," he said gently.
The desire to move came on him more strongly now. Stooping, he got in,the seat cushions adjusting automatically to his posture, and a voicesomewhere in the drive panel said, "Direction, please."
_Yes--where to?_ He didn't know. But he had to get away.
"Straight ahead," he ordered, hoping the machine would make the best ofit.
As he rode, he wondered desperately what was wrong with him. He waseasily the most talented of men, yet he was unhappy. Perhaps it wasbecause they all treated him so adoringly that he was tired of them. Hesaw nowhere that drive which was so strong in him, the urge to go on tobigger things. He had sought it in his friends many times before, butgave up when no one knew what he meant. Even as a child his elders saidhe should have been born a mechanoid. It was a jest that was deathlytrue.
Trees flashed by, but as Sethos watched, they slowed in their flight,and he realized the car was stopping.
"I'm sorry, this is zone," said the car. "I can go no further.Redirection, or shall I cruise at random?"
He started to affirm, but something stopped him.
Barely visible ahead were the first low, dark buildings of the mechanoidworld.
"No," he answered. "I'm getting out here."
He left the car, walking forward rapidly until the headlights no longerlighted his path. The trees began to thin out, and his feet struckconcrete. He knew he was beyond the general limits of human activity.
* * * * *
Fear came, now that he was in that land where men never walked. Thebuildings loomed around him, forbidding and dark. Further down thestreet the lights began, spaced at intervals on the walls.
"Your attention, please," said a voice at his shoulder. He recoiled,noticing for the first time a small yellow mechanoid rolling silentlybeside him. Its face screen watched him steadily.
"May I remind you that this is no longer the human zone? I can whistlean autocar for you, if you wish."
Sethos felt a twinge of terror as he said, "No, thank you," andcontinued to walk.
_Now it will begin_, he thought. _They'll be on me every block. Turnback. No, don't give up now. What can I lose? They won't hurt me--it'sjust a matter of regulation. They can't do anything to me fordisobedience._
Looking up, he saw stars between the clouds. For a moment he couldimagine that perhaps, once upon a time, men must have longed to reachout in some way across the tremendous distance to the stars. It was astrange sensation, this longing for something obviously unattainable.
"Hello," said another voice. "Are you lost?"
Sethos glanced at the new figure that accompanied him. It was human inshape, but the fact that it skated on rollers betrayed its nature.
"No. I'm ... just walking." His voice sounded small and guilty in thestrange city.
"I see. For exercise?"
"No--I mean, not exactly. Well, I wanted to see what things were likeoutside our zone."
"Our course."
_He won't stop me_, Sethos thought with determination.
"Are you someone I should know?" he asked.
"Tenth level," the mechanoid replied, whirring sedately along besidehim. "I was notified five minutes ago by a circuit walker. He said heoffered to radio for a vehicle, but you did not wish to return."
"That's right." Sethos was nervous now, but maintained his even step.They had gone three blocks together, and still he would not slow down.
"Tell me, Mr. Tenth," Sethos said, trying to appear calm, "dopeople--often walk as I'm doing?"
"No, not often." Mr. Tenth took a step across a small puddle, thenresumed skating.
"What happens if I get tired of walking?"
"I can direct you to Mr. Third's office, if you won't mind. He handlessuch things."
"And suppose I keep going?"
"You'll be followed by an autocar that will pick you up whenever you gettired."
"I intend to keep going," Sethos said, his teeth clenched.
"Very well." The mechanoid rolled away.
* * * * *
Sethos was entering the heart of the city. As far as he could see, thestreets led off into the distance, with the gleaming lights that linedthe buildings on either side diminishing until they merged at a farvanishing point.
_How far does it go?_ he wondered, overwhelmed. _Maybe if I go farenough, I'll find another community like our own, with men living in it!What a discovery that would be!_
The low hanging clouds threw back the city's glow as far as he couldsee.
In the streets there were now several mechanoids, and their numberincreased as he went. Some were prime mechanoids, and resembled humans,rolling along the slower traffic lanes. Others were specialized workers,with longer arms or a number of arms, or with a truck body instead oflegs. In fact, he saw every gradation between prime mechanoid andservice vehicle. A bizarre parade!
A strange little apparatus with three wheels stopped before Sethos."Your attention, please," it said. "You are now one-half mile from zone.The time is eleven-twenty p.m."
It occurred to him to watch for more tenth level mechanoids, and he sawthree immediately, moving with him several yards away. An autocarcruised patiently.
"You are heading due west, on Street 751 West, at a speed of three andeight tenths miles per hour."
He saw the mechanoid with three wheels again, clocking him helpfully.
"Go away," he said.
His breath came hard; he was not used to walking such a distance.
_How long can I last? If I keep going, I'll get hungry, and there won'tbe any food. They don't serve food out here. I can go until I drop fromexhaustion. Then they'll take me back ... ask me if I want therapy._
He would refuse, then try it again later. He would try it day after day,probably, maybe getting a little further each time, and each time themechanoids would patiently bring him back. On and on ... until herequested therapy....
"You are now one mile from zone," said his clocker. "The time iseleven-twenty-eight p.m."
The lights burned on into the distance. His legs were beginning to ache,but still the urge to cross the city was intense.
_Maybe I'll go till I come to the ocean_, he thought, sucking hisbreath. He had seen pictures of the ocean, that featureless blue withits concrete wall stretching away for thousands of miles.
A mechanoid stood on a corner, pointing back. So that was the nexttrick! Helpful, hinting.... He saw another, showing the way home.
He grew angry. _It'll be a battle of nerves. They'll get nicer and nicerto me, until I can't stand it any more._
He concentrated on the lights, watching them pass one
by one. Thathelped.
"Please note your return route."
He wondered if they had missed him at the party.
"There is an autocar at your service."
They would be preparing to eat the midnight meal, now, he remembered.The foodmakers would emerge from the kitchens and steal the show intheir performance of taste appeal, warm odors, rare dishes....
"You are heading due west, on Street 751 West, at a speed of three andsix tenths miles per hour."
It seemed cold. The mechanoids did not have thermostat stations, forthey did not need them. He shivered slightly.
"You are now two miles from zone. The time is eleven-forty-five p.m."
_The lights. Watch the lights._
"Please submit any request for information here."
He was panting, and his legs felt weak.
"There is an autocar...."
It was useless. Shutting his eyes tight, he stopped.
"All right. Let's go."
* * * * *
"Good evening," said Mr. Third.
Sethos seated himself in a contour chair in the center of the softlylighted office. From behind a curving desk, the brain of a slender metalcylinder observed the young man before it, checked by radio with fiveMr. Tenths in the space of three and one fifth seconds as to theincident's details. Then Mr. Third folded his plastic arms and studiedthe short brown hair and dark eyes, the lean face and straight nose.Human features always fascinated him.
"I'm the human coordinator, Sethos. You know why you're here, don'tyou?"
Sethos nodded.
"Everyone learns that sometime," Mr. Third remarked. "In a certainnumber of births there is a percentage who are of higher intelligence.These are the restless ones whom we cannot discourage developmentally aseasily as the others. They usually have to request therapy to adjust. Soyour case is not new."
Sethos lit a cigarette. He knew the story, but coming from a third levelprime mechanoid it was all the more impressive.
"All right, I'm inquisitive. Why must we have therapy? Why do we have tostay in our zone?"
Mr. Third paused. He recognized challenge in the young man before him,and tried to estimate his will power.
"Did you know that there was on the earth, long ago, lower forms of lifecalled animals? And that man once specified these and contained them incages, from which they were denied exit?"
"I have read of their place in our biological evolution, but of coursethey are before the time of records."
"Well, we know very little about this practice or its use, but it'ssimilar to what we have here, I believe. We mechanoids are not concernedwith history, having only one structural law which was built into us byyour ancestors, and it cannot be superseded. We must preserve man in thestate he existed when we were created. We cannot impede hisactivities--unless they peril his stability, which we maintainprecisely, as you know. It is impossible, you see, for us to allow manto change or expand. We have fulfilled that obligation, and continue tofulfill it. There are no alternatives whatever."
"I can't see what they had in mind when they made you that way. Itsounds insane."
"Don't ask why--that is no longer important. We cannot question what isfundamental to all our operations, the factor present in every formulawe must work. Our mechanoid civilization is gigantic, by your standards,but it is flawless. Once set in motion, such a system is impenetrable.All individuals are their allotted part of the entirety, no more, noless. It is beautiful concept, you'll agree?"
"You must get terribly bored," Sethos said humorlessly.
"That word has no meaning for us. Now--do you request therapy?"
Sethos was startled. He had expected the question, and knew there waslittle point in refusing. Yet he hesitated. The desire to learn wasstrong.
Before he could reply, a door opened and another mechanoid rolled in.
"You didn't whistle, Mr. First," said Mr. Third to the newcomer."Something on your mind?"
Sethos noted that they spoke aloud for his benefit. He inhaledreflectively of his cigarette.
"A mutual friend of ours is here," said the first level prime.
"The one we've been expecting?" asked Mr. Third.
"That's right. I see you have a young fellow here--out walking?"
Sethos nodded, wondering what visitor they could have. Perhaps amechanoid from another continent--but still such a mechanoid would be inperpetual contact anyway.
"Good--come along. It'll save the gentleman some time. He's looking forthis sort of thing."
"Save him some time! He's in a hurry?" interrupted Sethos.
"For this man, time is very important," said Mr. First gravely.
"Where is he now?" asked Third.
"In my office, studying the vocabulary. Shall we go over?"
More curious than ever, Sethos followed the mechanoids down the corridorto a slide. Holding the rail, he felt the car surge through its shaft ata tremendous speed.
* * * * *
They emerged into the first level office. Two other first levelmechanoids sat reading formulated material, while near the center stooda tall man, his eyes on a page of printed matter in his hands. He had nohair, and wore only a simple gray cloak over a white, loose-fittingone-piece suit. Sethos regarded his graceful appearance andsophisticated demeanor.
"Hello," he said, looking up. "I am Hol."
Sethos nodded cautiously. "My name is Sethos."
For a moment, Hol looked at the two Mr. Firsts reading, then at the onestanding. There seemed to be some sort of communication between them.Then he spoke again.
"Are you discontented with your culture?"
"Of course. I don't believe man's curiosity should be restricted."
"I see. What do you propose in this case?"
Sethos was perplexed. He had not dreamed of a possible solution. Butperhaps there was one!
"I don't know. If mechanoid control could be removed, I think humanswould expand over all the planet. Then they could progress bythemselves."
"Do you think they can?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do you think humans can progress further--without mechanoids?"
_Further_--so that was it. The creation of mechanoids must represent theheight of human development. Which meant they were necessary to goingon, reaching the stars....
"You mean, if humans could work _with_ mechanoids, we could even travelto other worlds and spread throughout the universe?"
"He's getting close to the 'matter masters matter' principle," mused Mr.Third. "It's growth through extension, Sethos, a universal. Not just'human'--man isn't alone in the universe."
Sethos did not understand. But another thought struck him.
"Just a moment, Hol. I've never seen you before. Where are you from?"
"From Antares System. I am an ethnographer, making a survey of theplanets of man's early history."
Sethos was stunned.
"You--you are from out in _space_? From the _stars_?"
"That is correct. Man lives everywhere in the universe. But as Mr. Thirdsaid, that may be misleading."
Sethos disregarded the comment. It didn't matter if he were alone ornot, at least he was _there_--man in the universe!
"I have completed a section of my work here. It is necessary to speakwith the first level alone, if possible," said Hol.
"Of course," said Mr. Third. "Sethos, there is a vehicle in the hall.Will you return home until you wish to contact us about therapy? Youhave clearance to come in directly when you decide."
"Yes--yes, certainly."
In his shock he was barely conscious of an autocar hurtling through thedark streets, the familiar trees of West Park looming above him. Then,once more he saw the lights at Matya's, heard the noise and laughter.
Stepping from the autocar, Sethos felt the night breeze on his face. Helooked upward at the sky, saw the stars like fierce eyes that had beenwatching all along. The revelation was too much to take,
he thought.Suddenly Earth itself, so vastly greater than the small reservation ofmen, and short hours ago a veritable infinity, seemed tiny andinsignificant.
"Why, Sethos! Where have you been?"
It was Paton's voice. The old man stood alone on the path.
"Paton, you couldn't guess what has happened. It's incredible!"
"Come up and get a drink, boy. You look exhausted. I was alarmed when Ifound you'd left."
Sethos took his arm and faced him squarely.
"Paton--I left the zone, and was taken to Mr. First's office. And do youknow who I met? I met a man from the stars! Think of it! A man fromother worlds, Paton. Do you realize that human beings have _already_traveled those fantastic distances, long ago? They must have forgottenabout us on Earth!"
"Why, that is amazing. It just goes to show you, there's nothing newunder the sun. Come along, and get that drink. I found some _exquisite_wine."
Sethos stopped. His hand slipped from Paton's arm.
"Paton.... Did you hear what I said? Didn't it penetrate? I said man has_reached_ the stars! We already own the universe...."
"Of course. But I must say I don't know what we want with it all. Won'tyou join us now? Say, Ela has been looking for you."
"Ela? Yes, Ela. I want to see Ela...."
She came down the walk, and took him by the hands.
"_There_ you are, you elusive boy! I want to go home now. I simply haveto adjust my crystals or they'll overflow the bedroom. Oh, Matya! Thankyou for a splendid time. I'll be having you over next week, don'tforget."
Then they were down from the hill and in the park, and the party flowedon behind them, forgetting.
* * * * *
They were home again, and Ela hurried off to add nutrients to the hugecrystal sculpture that was growing in the bedroom. It glowed andvibrated in every color of the spectrum, and strange textures developedat those edges where Ela hovered with a glass dropper and her chemicals,touching, wiping, smoothing....
"Oh, it nearly got away from me over here. I _must_ get these reds tobalance, or the whole thing will never refract properly at all. Did youknow, Seth--they want to erect it in Central Plaza when I'm finished!Isn't that wonderful?" Her pleased face sparkled as she worked.
Sethos sat on the bed, folding his hands in his lap. Still stunned byPaton's reaction, he gazed absently at the floor.
"Ela, I met a man tonight. He is a very important man."
"Yes, there were _so_ many dolls there. I only wish I had met Andianagain. He'd be so jealous if he knew I was acclaimed for exhibition inthe Plaza."
"I don't mean at the party."
Ela turned. "Really, dear? Where was he?"
"In the office of Mr. First. He wanted to talk to me."
"You went outside zone? Whatever for?"
Sethos rose and took her shoulders firmly in his hands.
"This man is from another planet, Ela. He told me that people live allover the universe!"
"You don't say!"
"They left the earth a long time ago. They've traveled between the starsfor centuries and centuries!"
"That's wonderful, dear. Help me with this pot of dye, will you, Seth?"
Sethos drew back, unbelieving.
"Ela.... The stars are trillions of miles apart. Men have learned to flybetween them somehow!"
"It's breathtaking. The dye?"
"Quintillions, some of them! Think of it, Ela!" Sethos was shaking withagitation.
"Dearest," said Ela, moving away from him, "do you think we might movecloser to Center after my Plaza crystal is finished? I'd like to be ableto look out and see it every morning in the sun...."
She wasn't listening! _She didn't care!_
"Ela. Ela, love--listen to me! What's wrong with you? Can't you _see_?"His voice shrank to a whisper.
She smiled tolerantly. "Of course, dear."
"I'm telling you something no one has dreamed of before and you fussabout your crystals! Don't you ever get sick of this little cage? Don'tyou ever feel like getting out and running away?"
"Cage?"
"I'm telling you the earth can be ours! People can live like mechanoidsif they'll only wake up and stop their childish play!"
"But why, dear?"
"_Why?_ We were _meant_ to, that's why. Because we've already _done_ it,or someone has. But _we're_ still here, left behind. We've got to catchup!"
"How silly." She returned to her chemicals.
Sethos felt a burning rage seize him. This woman he had loved--she wasonly a shell, a stick of wood, with no ideas of her own--no curiosity.Nothing! And she didn't have the faintest notion what he was talkingabout. She didn't _care_!
Furious, he grasped a heavy bronze ash tray and hurled it, hard as hecould, into the mass of shining crystal that filled the room. With anexplosive rainbow of color and a reverberating crash, it collapsed underthe heavy blow into a million tiny fragments.
He stood, glaring at the scattered shards, waiting for Ela to leap athim, screaming and clawing him for the ruin he had made of hermasterpiece.
But she only smiled weakly, and shrugged.
"Dear, that was very irrational. I think you had better request therapyone of these days. Now I shall have to start all over again. But don'tfret, sweet. I had a much better idea anyway. I can get sensationalresults using fluorides."
She wouldn't fight him--she couldn't think of such an act, raised in aworld where coercion and violence did not exist. She didn't care about_anything_!
Calm now, he knew what to do. Striding swiftly from the house, he wentstraight to the vehicle space. He got into an autocar and slammed thedoor.
"Direction, please."
"Contact Dispatching. Ask for permission to go directly to first levelprimary. Tell them it's Sethos."
Pause. "Permission granted."
* * * * *
"Come in, Sethos. What can I do for you?"
Sethos looked around the room anxiously.
"I want to make a request, Mr. First, if it isn't too late."
"Too late?"
"I would like to see Hol before he leaves. Is he still here?"
"Perhaps I can arrange it. His time is budgeted, you understand."
"I _must_ see him."
Mr. First was silent for a moment, and Sethos realized he was contactingsomeone. Then, he announced, "Yes, he's willing to see you. Go throughthis door. His compartment is the second down the corridor."
Sethos thanked him and hurried out. Finding the door, he hesitated aninstant, then went in.
"Good morning," said Hol.
There was a second man standing beside him, dressed in the same mannerand of the same stature as Hol.
"I had to see you," Sethos began hastily, not expecting to encounter twomen.
"I see. This is Bek, a field observer. He was at your party last night."
Sethos remembered the stranger he had taken for a spying apprentice onthe hillside. He felt embarrassed, but brushed it aside.
"I ... want you to take me with you."
Hol looked at his companion.
"I don't fit here," Sethos went on. "Mr. Third himself said I'm moreintelligent than the others--I'm the only one who knows what your visitmeans. I want to go where people are interested in learning andprogress. If I stay here I'll have to fool around with a hobby the restof my life. There's no work, no expansion. You can see why I have toleave, can't you? I'm the _curious_ type."
"You don't know what you're asking."
"Why? Can't you take me with you? What harm would it do?"
"Well, there are rules."
"But--I'm not just anybody. I'm an exception to the rule. I qualify as agenius--you mean there isn't a place for me _somewhere_ in the universe?Surely you can use a smart man!"
"You are a genius, that's true," said Bek, in a deep, serious voice. "Aslong as you remain here. Hundreds of centuries ago, your ancestorsdiscovered principles that are not even expressible in your lang
uage,and learned to apply them to matter. Soon they knew no boundaries. Theearth was not forgotten, but it was no longer important. It still isonly a statistic. And we are here to examine it briefly. We have manyothers to visit.
"You see, Sethos, man changed out in space. He is a long way from yourancestors who started all this. But before those ancient men left, theyestablished Earth as a control planet, to maintain forever a specimen ofthe original stock. It may have been done out of his egocentric ideas atthe time, but it proved wise, for such a specimen is valuable in ourresearch."
"Sethos," said Hol, seeing the bewilderment on the young man's face,"the mechanoids who attend your little community are more than onehundred thousand years old. That is how long your little culture hasbeen faithfully preserved, just as it was then. You would not be capableof living elsewhere in the universe now. You could survive, perhaps,bright as you are, for a century or so, and then die, unhappy,maladjusted, never finding another of your own level. You are, afterall, a savage."
Sethos was dazed.
He--an atavism, a prehistoric man! No wonder his people behaved as theydid--they were merely a docile herd of caged animals, kept complacentand well-fed by the keepers outside. An extinct beast, left to be tendeduntil the earth reached the end of its course as a flaming speck in theinfinite cavern of space!
"You--you _must_ take me! I couldn't stand it now. How can I go back,knowing we're just a miserable experiment? Please--I'll go crazy!"
"Even now you exhibit one of your primitive traits--pride of being aman. But you will adjust to life. It is as it should be."
"But--"
"I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do."
"No, wait--I...."
The two men were gone.
Sethos stared. He was alone in the room. A constriction grew in histhroat, and he felt weak. Indeed, man had changed.
"Sethos?"
Mr.
