by Isaac Asimov
'No,' more coldly still. 'I can always get an injection of my own if I feel desperate about it.'
John put down his fork. 'You can't mean that.'
'I don't, but what if I did?'
'Because you can't take advantage of your special knowledge to deprive me of my position.'
'What position?'
The main course arrived and for a few moments, John was busy. Then he said, in a whisper, 'My position as the first of the future. Homo superior There'll never be too many of us. You heard what Kupfer said. Some are too dumb to make it. Some are too smart to change much. I'm the one!'
'Dead average.' One corner of Susan's mouth lifted.
'Once I was. There'll be others like me eventually. Not many, but there'll be others. It's just that I want to make my mark before the others come along. It's for the firm, you know. Us!'
He remained lost in thought thereafter, testing his brain delicately.
Susan ate in an unhappy silence.
7
John spent several days organizing his memories. It was like the preparation of an orderly reference book. One by one, he recalled all his experiences in the six years he had spent at Quantum Pharmaceuticals and all he had heard and all the papers and memos he had read.
There was no difficulty in discarding the irrelevant and unimportant and storing them in a 'hold till further notice' compartment where they did not interfere with his analysis. Other items were put in order so that they established a natural progression.
Against that skeletal organization, he resurrected the scuttlebutt he had heard; the gossip, malicious or otherwise; casual phrases and interjections at conferences which he had not been conscious of hearing at the time. Those items which did not fit anywhere against the background he had built up in his head were worthless, empty of factual content. Those which did fit clicked firmly into place and could be seen as true by that mere fact.
The further the structure grew, and the more coherent, the more significant new items became and the easier it was to fit them in.
Ross stopped by John's desk on Tuesday. He said, 'I want to see you in my office at the nonce, Heath, if your legs will deign to carry you in that direction.'
John rose uneasily. 'Is it necessary? I'm busy.'
'Yes, you look busy.' Ross looked over the clear desk which, at the moment, held nothing but a studio photo of a smiling Susan. 'You've been this busy all week. But you've asked me whether seeing me in my office is necessary. For me, no; but for you, vital. There's the door to my office. There's the door to the hell out of here. Choose one or the other and do it fast.'
John nodded and, without undue hurry, followed Ross into his office.
Ross seated himself behind his desk but did not invite John to sit. He maintained a hard stare for a moment, then said, 'What the hell's got into you this week, Heath? Don't you know what your job is?'
'To the extent that I have done it, it would seem that I do,' said John. 'The report on microcosmic is on your desk and complete and seven days ahead of deadline. I doubt that you can have complaints about it.'
'You doubt, do you? Do I have permission to have complaints if I choose to after communing with my soul? Or am I condemned to applying to you for permission?'
'I apparently have not made myself plain, Mr Ross. I doubt that you have rational complaints about it. To have those of the other variety is entirely up to you.'
Ross rose now. 'Listen, punk, if I decide to fire you, you won't get the news by word of mouth. It won't be anything I say that will give you the glad tidings. You will go through the door in a violent tumble and mine will be the propulsive force behind that tumble. Just keep that in your small brain and your tongue in your big mouth. - Whether you've done your work or not is not at question right now. Whether you've done everyone else's is. Who and what gives you the right to manage everyone in this place?'
John said nothing.
Ross roared, 'Well?'
John said, 'Your order was "keep your tongue in your big mouth."'
Ross turned a dangerous red. 'You will answer questions, however.'
John said, 'I am not aware that I have been managing anyone.'
'There's not a person in the place you haven't corrected at least once. You have gone over Willoughby's head in connection with the correspondence on the TMP's; you have been into general files using Bronstein's computer access; and God knows what else I haven't yet been told about and all in the last two days. You are disrupting the work of this department and it must cease this moment. There must be dead calm, and instantaneously, or it will be tornado weather for you, my man.'
John said, 'If I have interfered in the narrow sense, it has been for the good of the company. In the case of Willoughby, his treatment of the TMP matter was putting Quantum Pharmaceuticals in violation of government regulations, something I have pointed out to you in one of several memos I have sent you which you apparently have not had occasion to read. As for Bronstein, he was simply ignoring general directions and costing the company fifty thousand in unnecessary tests, something I was easily able to establish by locating the necessary correspondence -merely to corroborate my clear memory of the situation.'
Ross was swelling visibly through the talk. 'Heath,' he said, 'you are usurping my role. You will, therefore, gather your personal effects and be off the premises before lunch, never to return. If you do, I will take extreme pleasure in helping you out again with my foot. Your official notice of dismissal will be in your hands, or down your throat, before your effects will be collected, work as quickly as you may.'
John said, 'Don't try to bully me, Ross. You've cost the company a quarter of a million dollars through incompetence and you know it.'
There was a short pause as Ross deflated. He said, cautiously, 'What are you talking about?'
'Quantum Pharmaceuticals went down to the wire on the Nutley bid and missed out because a certain piece of information that was in your hands stayed in your hands and never got to the Board of Directors. You either forgot or you didn't bother and in either case you are not the man for your job. You are either incompetent or have sold out.'
'You're insane.'
'No one need believe me. The information is in the computer, if one knows where to look and I know where to look. What's more, the knowledge is on file and will be on the desks of the interested parties two minutes after I leave these premises.'
'If this were so,' said Ross, speaking with difficulty, 'you could not possibly know. This is a stupid attempt at blackmail by threat of slander.'
'You know it's not slander. If you doubt that I have the information, let me tell you that there is one memorandum
that is not in the records but can be reconstructed without too much difficulty from what is there. You would have to explain its absence and it will be presumed you have destroyed it. You know I'm not bluffing.'
'It's still blackmail.'
'Why? I'm making no demands and no threats. I'm merely explaining my actions of the past two days. Of course, if I'm forced to resign, I'll have to explain why I resigned, won't I?'
Ross said nothing.
John said, coolly, 'Is my resignation being requested?'
'Get out of here!'
'With my job? Or without it?'
Ross said, 'You have your job.' His face was a study in hatred.
8
Susan had arranged a dinner at her apartment and had gone to considerable trouble for it. Never, in her own opinion, had she looked more enticing and never did she think it more important to move John, at least for a bit, away from his total concentration on his own mind.
She said, with an attempt at heartiness, 'After all, we are celebrating the last nine days of single blessedness.'
'We are celebrating more than that,' said John with a grim smile. 'It's only four days since I got the disinhibitor and already I've been able to put Ross in his place. He'll never bother me again.'
'We each seem to have our own notion of sentiment,
' said Susan. 'Tell me the details of your tender remembrance.'
John told the tale crisply, repeating the conversation verbatim and without hesitation.
Susan listened stonily, without in any way rising to the gathering triumph in John's voice. 'How did you know all that about Ross?'
John said, 'There are no secrets, Sue. Things just seem secret because people don't remember. If you can recall every remark, every comment, every stray word made to you or in your hearing and consider them all in combination, you find that everyone gives himself away in everything. You can pick out meanings that will, in these days of computerization, send you straight to the necessary records. It can be done. I can do it. I have done it in the case of Ross. I can do it in the case of anybody with whom I associate.'
'You can also get them furious.'
'I got Ross furious. You can bet on that.'
'Was that wise?'
'What can he do to me? I've got him cold.'
'He has enough clout in the upper echelons--'
'Not for long. I have a conference set for 2 P.M. tomorrow with old man Prescott and his stinking cigar and I'll cut Ross off at the pass.'
'Don't you think you're moving too quickly?'
'Moving too quickly? I haven't even begun. Prescott's just a stepping-stone. Quantum Pharmaceuticals' is just a stepping-stone.'
'It's still too quick. Johnny, you need someone to direct you. You need--'
'I need nothing. With what I have,' he tapped his temple, 'there's no one and nothing that can stop me.'
Susan said, 'Well, look, let's not discuss that. We have different plans to make.'
'Plans?'
'Our own. We're getting married in just under nine days. Surely,' with heavy irony, 'you haven't returned to the sad old days when you forgot things.'
'I remember the wedding,' said John, testily, 'but at the moment I've got to reorganize Quantum. In fact, I've been thinking seriously of postponing the wedding till I have things well in hand.'
'Oh? And when might that be?'
'That's hard to tell. Not long at the rate I'm taking hold. A month or two, I suppose. Unless', and he descended into sarcasm, 'you think that's moving too quickly.'
Susan was breathing hard. 'Were you planning to consult with me on the matter?'
John raised his eyebrows. 'Would it have been necessary? Where's the argument? Surely you see what's happening. We can't interrupt it and lose momentum. - Listen, did you know I'm a mathematical wiz? I can multiply and divide as fast as a computer because at some time in my life I have come across almost every simple bit of arithmetic and I can recall the answers. I read a table of square roots and I can--'
Susan cried, 'My God, Johnny, you are a kid with a new toy. You've lost your perspective. Instant recall is good for nothing but playing tricks with. It doesn't give you one bit more intelligence; not an ounce; not a speck more of judgement; not a whiff more of common sense. You're about as safe to have around as a little boy with a loaded grenade. You need looking after by someone with brains.'
John scowled. 'Do I? It seems to me that I'm getting what I want.'
'Are you? Isn't it true that I'm what you want also?'
'What?'
'Go ahead, Johnny. You want me. Reach out and take me. Exercise that remarkable recall you have. Remember who I am, what I am, the things we can do, the warmth, the affection, the sentiment.'
John, with his forehead still creased in uncertainty, extended his arms towards Susan.
She stepped out of them. 'But you haven't got me, or anything about me. You can't remember me into your arms; you have to love me into them. The trouble is, you don't have the good sense to do it and you lack the intelligence to establish reasonable priorities. - Here, take this and get out of my apartment or I'll hit you with something a lot heavier.'
He stopped to pick up the engagement ring. 'Susan--'
'I said, get out. The firm of Johnny and Sue is hereby dissolved.'
Her face blazed anger and John turned meekly and left.
When he arrived at Quantum the next morning, Anderson was waiting for him with a look of anxious impatience on his face.
'Mr Heath,' he said, smiling, and rising.
'What do you want?' demanded John.
'We are private here, I take it?'
'The place isn't bugged as far as I know.'
'You are to report to us day after tomorrow for examination. On Sunday. You recall that?'
'Of course, I recall that. I'm incapable of not recalling. I am capable of changing my mind, however. Why do I need an examination?'
'Why not, sir? It is quite plain from what Kupfer and I have picked up that the treatment seems to have worked splendidly. Actually, we don't want to wait till Sunday. If you can come with me today - now, in fact - it would mean a great deal to us, to Quantum, and, of course, to humanity.'
John said, curtly, 'You might have held on to me when you had me. You sent me about my business, allowing me to live and work unsupervised so that you could test me under field conditions, and get a better idea of how things would work out. It meant more risk for me, but you didn't worry about that, did you?' 'Mr Heath, that was not in our minds. We--' 'Don't tell me that. I remember every last word you and Kupfer said to me last Sunday, and it's quite clear to me that that was in your minds. So if I take the risk, I accept the benefits. I have no intention of presenting myself as a biochemical freak who has achieved my ability at the end of a hypodermic needle. Nor do I want others of the sort wandering around. For now, I have a monopoly and I intend to use it. When I'm ready - not before - I will be willing to co-operate with you and benefit humanity. But just remember, I'm the one who will know when I'm ready, not you. So don't call me; I'll call you.'
Anderson managed a soft smile. 'As to that, Mr Heath, how can you stop us from making our announcement? Those who have dealt with you this week will have no trouble in recognizing the change in you and in testifying to it.'
'Really? See here, Anderson, listen closely and do so without that foolish grin on your face. It irritates me. I told you I remember every word you and Kupfer spoke. I remember every nuance of expression, every sidelong glance. It all spoke volumes. I learned enough to check through sick-leave records with a good idea of what I was looking for. It would seem that I was not the first Quantum employee on whom you had tried the disinhibitor.' Anderson was, indeed, not smiling. 'That is nonsense.' 'You know it is not, and you had better know I can prove it. I know the names of the men involved - one was a woman, actually - and the hospitals in which they were treated and the false history with which they were supplied. Since you did not warn me of this, when you used me as your fourth experimental animal on two legs, I owe you nothing but a prison sentence.'
Anderson said, 'I won't discuss this matter. Let me say this, though. The treatment will wear off, Heath. You won't keep your total recall. You will have to come back for further treatment and you can be sure it will be on our terms.'
John said, 'Nuts! You don't suppose I haven't investigated your reports - at least, those you haven't kept secret. And I already have a notion of what aspects you have kept secret. The treatment lasts longer in some cases than others. It invariably lasts longer where it is more effective. In my case, the treatment has been extraordinarily effective and it will endure a considerable time. By the time I come to you again, if I ever have to, I will be in a position where any failure on your part to co-operate will be swiftly devastating to you. Don't even think of it.'
'You ungrateful--'
'Don't bother me,' said John, wearily. 'I have no time to listen to you froth. Go away, I have work to do.'
Anderson's face was a study in fear and frustration as he left.
10
It was 2.30 P.M. when John walked into Prescott's office, for once not minding the cigar smoke. It would not be long, he knew, before Prescott would have to choose between his cigars and his position.
With Prescott were Arnold Gluck and Lewis .Randall,
so that John had the grim pleasure of knowing he was facing the three top men in the division.
Prescott rested his cigar on top of an ashtray and said, 'Ross has asked me to give you half an hour, and that's all I will give you. You're the one with the trick memory, aren't you?'
'My name is John Heath, sir, and I intend to present you with a rationalization of procedure for the company; one that will make full use of the age of computers and electronic communication and will lay the groundwork for further modification as the technology improves.'
The three men looked at each other.
Gluck, whose creased face was tanned a leathery brown, said, 'Are you an expert in office management?'
'I don't have to be, sir. I have been here for six years and I recall every bit of the procedure in every transaction in which I have been involved. That means the pattern of such transactions is plain to me and its imperfections obvious. One can see towards what it is tending and where it is doing so wastefully and inefficiently. If you'll listen, I will explain. You will find it easy to understand.'
Randall, whose red hair and freckles made him seem younger than he was, said sardonically, 'Real easy, I hope, because we have trouble with hard concepts.'
'You won't have trouble,' said John.
'And you won't get a second more than twenty-one minutes,' said Prescott, looking at his watch.
'It won't take that,' said John. 'I have it diagrammed and I can talk quickly.'
It took fifteen minutes and the three management personnel were remarkably silent in that interval.
Finally Gluck said, with a hostile glance out of his small eyes, 'It sounds as though you are saying we can get along with half the management we are employing these days.'
'Less than half,' said John, coolly, 'and be the more efficient for it. We can't fire ordinary personnel at will because of the unions, though we can profitably lose them by attrition. Management is not protected, however, and can be let go. They'll have pensions if they're old enough and can get new jobs if they're young enough. Our thought must be for Quantum.'
