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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/32861-h.zip b/32861-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5fbffdf --- /dev/null +++ b/32861-h.zip diff --git a/32861-h/32861-h.htm b/32861-h/32861-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..816befc --- /dev/null +++ b/32861-h/32861-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1508 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<!-- $Id: header.txt 236 2009-12-07 18:57:00Z vlsimpson $ --> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Genius, by Con Pederson. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + +.linenum { + position: absolute; + top: auto; + left: 4%; +} /* poetry number */ + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.sidenote { + width: 20%; + padding-bottom: .5em; + padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; + padding-right: .5em; + margin-left: 1em; + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; + color: black; + background: #eeeeee; + border: dashed 1px; +} + +.bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + +.bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + +.bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + +.br {border-right: solid 2px;} + +.bbox {border: solid 2px;} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.u {text-decoration: underline;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 1em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +.figright { + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-left: 1em; + margin-bottom: + 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* Poetry */ +.poem { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align: left; +} + +.poem br {display: none;} + +.poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + +.poem span.i0 { + display: block; + margin-left: 0em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.i2 { + display: block; + margin-left: 2em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.i4 { + display: block; + margin-left: 4em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Genius, by Con Pederson and Paul Orban + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Genius + +Author: Con Pederson + Paul Orban + +Release Date: June 17, 2010 [EBook #32861] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GENIUS *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h1>THE GENIUS</h1> + +<h2>By Con Pederson</h2> + +<h3>Illustrated by Paul Orban</h3> + +<p>[Transcriber Note: This etext was produced from IF Worlds of Science +Fiction May 1954. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that +the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="sidenote"><i>Sethos was a great artist, a talented man, quite possibly +the most famous man of his time and world. But, alas!—there were other +worlds. And is not the grass always greener...?</i></div> + + +<p>Sethos entered the park. Brown autumn leaves crumpled sharply beneath +his feet, the green grass sank. The sun was nearly gone, and the last of +the children passed him, chattering as they faded into the twilight. +Only one other person remained in the park, and she was waiting for +Sethos.</p> + +<p>"Ela," he said. "Have you been here long?"</p> + +<p>She touched his cheek with hers in greeting.</p> + +<p>"Not at all. I'm in no hurry." She handed him a cigarette as they walked +together, then lit her own and breathed deeply of the scented fumes. +"Nothing special about Matya's parties—unless she has that intriguing +man there again. What's his name? You know—"</p> + +<p>"You must mean Andian, the sculptor. The man who built North Square, to +hear him talk. What about him?"</p> + +<p>Ela laughed. "He'd never heard of my fluid porcelain. Isn't that silly? +After everyone in West has been overwhelmed with the color effects, he +turns up, a perfect innocent. I showed him pliables."</p> + +<p>Smiling, Sethos recalled it was Ela's enthusiasm that had first +attracted him, as it had most of the males in their clique. Then too, +she was beautiful, with startling gold hair and a delicate round face +that always aroused flattery. Tonight he felt especially aware of her +beside him, and the quick beat of her sandals on the pavement.</p> + +<p>The lights of Matya's hillhouse gleamed before them, enticing all who +wandered through West Park this evening. The party had started, as +parties always did, at that unknown instant shortly before the first +guest's arrival. It was thriving now, for the colors behind the +contoured glass facade throbbed as though underwater, and people sat +along the terraced hillside, talking and inhaling the elegant smoke from +smoldering chalices that stood around the entrance.</p> + +<p>They climbed the flagstone path toward the low, pale yellow building. +Luxuriant plants grew thick along the walls, creating a jungle that +extended even to the inner rooms of the house.</p> + +<p>"Sethos, my friend!" said an unsteady voice.</p> + +<p>The old man was seated in shadow by the house, a glass of sparkling +liquor on the arm of his chair. Against the green background of giant +plants, his frail, pink face resembled a huge bud that would open when +daylight came.</p> + +<p>"How are you, Paton?" Sethos asked warmly. "I remember you from +somewhere in East. It must be years.... Weren't you gardening with Ana? +Of course—developing a perfect Lyocanthia. What a welcome sight you are +among these woodcutters!"</p> + +<p>"You're a fellow greensman now, they say," beamed Paton happily, seizing +his glass and leaning forward. "Such an honor to us. You work with +succulents—right?"</p> + +<p>Sethos smiled. He watched Ela disappear into the interior of the +sprawling hillhouse, heard her distant laugh become part of the +machinery of voices. People drifted to and fro across the broad lawns.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Sethos, drawing up a chair. "Succulents are my latest +joy. One must specialize. I like to work with growing things, yet I'd +feel like a mechanoid if I got involved in crystal sculpture, like my +charming Ela there."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps—but who else gets such <i>color</i>, starts so many new directions +as she? My flowers blush before her crystals." Paton's glass was empty, +and with an automatic gesture, Sethos refilled it from a tall flask +standing nearby, and poured one for himself.</p> + +<p>"Speaking of mechanoids," Paton continued genially, "I had a most +stimulating conversation with Mr. First himself a few days ago. He came +to see me."</p> + +<p>Sethos blinked. That was unusual—mechanoids seldom mingled with humans, +especially those of the primary levels.</p> + +<p>"He's very intelligent about flowers," Paton went on, waving his glass +in animation. "We talked about common hedge roses. Did you know he +raises them?"</p> + +<p>"Amazing!" Sethos drank deeply of the fiery liquor. Now the drifting +plumes of smoke from the chalices performed fantasies with his vision, +and his body felt light again, as it had so often in the evenings of the +past few years.</p> + +<p>"Of course I was flattered, having a visit from the <i>most</i> prime +mechanoid. He could have called me, but they are somewhat conscious of +being mechanical as it is, and try to be cordial as possible."</p> + +<p>Sethos leaned forward eagerly. "Did he say anything about—their +activities?"</p> + +<p>"Well, that's not too interesting to me, because it's always just one +change after another outside. He did say there is a new earth-bridge +between the continents. Doesn't it seem incredible that they should want +to go to all that trouble? But then, that's a mechanoid for you. Always +making things bigger. That's why I enjoy seeing Mr. First take up +flowers. Maybe he sees things our way himself."</p> + +<p>"I don't suppose you've ever been out there, have you?"</p> + +<p>"Out there? You mean, where the mechanoids live? Why, now that you +mention it, I believe I was, once. But a long time ago—I must have been +still living with my elders. It's not very enjoyable. Too big to call +home, after all." With a short laugh, Paton emptied his glass again.</p> + +<p>Sethos frowned. The idea that the world was so large fascinated him. As +his contemporaries and their ancestors for unknown generations, Sethos +had passed from dreamy childhood directly into the dream of adult life. +He could barely recall the days of education, when drugged smoke and +liquor were withheld, and life consisted of a different fairy world. How +he had loved the gay mechanoid nurses, with their tinkling arms and +bright colors! But of their world, the vast reaches of the planet +outside the tiny circle of men, he knew very little. One fact was plain +to him: it was unthinkably huge.</p> + +<p>Sudden music poured from the house, gay and fast.</p> + +<p>"Ha! The dancers!" exclaimed Paton, seeing the rows of gyrating figures +beyond a pink translucent wall. "You must excuse me. I promised Matya I +would watch her dance tonight."</p> + +<p>Paton hurried away, leaving Sethos to wander along the dimly lighted +terrace. The party had lightened his senses as expected, yet his +thoughts were heavy. He remembered the library, and the strange legends +in the books. Legends of ancient cities of men, over all the earth, and +of the prehistoric machines used by men to travel great distances. And +always in the old legends men were very much like the industrious +mechanoids—ever building, ever moving....</p> + +<p>How he wished he might live in those days! He knew the pleasure of +creating, for he had been acclaimed a genius in music before he was +twenty, and his mastery of painting and architecture had won the +admiration of all the human zone. Still, he was not satisfied, and often +lay awake in the early hours of morning after a stirring party, dreaming +of those long-gone days of empire, when he could have ridden with the +ancients through the sky on their winged craft, see their cities rise +toward the clouds, experience the exciting pace of that life. What +remarkable ambitions they must have had!</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>As Sethos reached the end of the terrace, he was hailed by a garmenter +named Brin, standing with a group of men around a light projector. The +colors sprayed up about their faces, matching the gaudy orange of Brin's +trousers and the blue of his little plumed hat.</p> + +<p>"Greetings, Sethos! How are the crops up North? Still live with Ela?"</p> + +<p>"They're fine, Brin. Live with Ela? No more than anyone else these +days."</p> + +<p>Brin chuckled. "A neat remark, Seth—I must remember it to your true +love the next time I have reason to see her."</p> + +<p>The men laughed appreciatively, the colors wheeling in rhythm across +their grinning faces.</p> + +<p>Suddenly three young women converged on the group, having spied Sethos +from inside.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Sethos!" one cried. "How wonderful you're here!"</p> + +<p>"Are you still composing that <i>magnificent</i> diphonic music?" asked +another breathlessly.</p> + +<p>Grimly, he realized he was trapped again. Every party brought on +something like this. How could he explain to these well-meaning girls +that he was trying to forget the past, that it bored him, that his music +was trite and his painting insipid? Still they would clamor for it.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me," muttered Sethos, walking away. His ears rang with their +adulation, but it always sickened him. Efforts he considered nothing at +all were worshiped by the others. It was demoralizing.</p> + +<p>Following the path around the corner, he descended from the noise of the +house, opening his mouth and inhaling the cool night air as though to +cleanse his lungs. He was growing extremely weary of the people at +parties.</p> + +<p>From here he could see the town laid out below, the four directions of +it, and he tried to guess how many times he had walked each street one +end to the other, then turned around and walked back, simply because no +one ever considered going straight on.</p> + +<p>At that moment a tall, lean man approached him. He was a stranger, with +a bearing Sethos did not recognize.</p> + +<p>"How do you do, Sethos," he said softly. "I understand you are the most +accomplished of your group. May I ask a few questions?"</p> + +<p>Someone from across town, obviously. He knew the type—they traveled +between the cliques, learning of new trends and ideas to pirate. He had +done it once himself.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry. I don't have any new goodies for your side of town. Why +don't you go in and pester Brin? He's always easy to tap."</p> + +<p>"You misjudge me. I'm not interested in stealing ideas."</p> + +<p>"I know, I know. But I'm not for sale anyway."</p> + +<p>Angered, Sethos turned and strode down the hill. The nerve of these +apprentices, he thought. Some day they'll ask for autographed samples.</p> + +<p>He stopped. A small autocar had caught his attention. On a wild impulse, +he opened the door. "Good evening, little servant," he said gently.</p> + +<p>The desire to move came on him more strongly now. Stooping, he got in, +the seat cushions adjusting automatically to his posture, and a voice +somewhere in the drive panel said, "Direction, please."</p> + +<p><i>Yes—where to?</i> He didn't know. But he had to get away.</p> + +<p>"Straight ahead," he ordered, hoping the machine would make the best of +it.</p> + +<p>As he rode, he wondered desperately what was wrong with him. He was +easily the most talented of men, yet he was unhappy. Perhaps it was +because they all treated him so adoringly that he was tired of them. He +saw nowhere that drive which was so strong in him, the urge to go on to +bigger things. He had sought it in his friends many times before, but +gave up when no one knew what he meant. Even as a child his elders said +he should have been born a mechanoid. It was a jest that was deathly +true.</p> + +<p>Trees flashed by, but as Sethos watched, they slowed in their flight, +and he realized the car was stopping.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry, this is zone," said the car. "I can go no further. +Redirection, or shall I cruise at random?"</p> + +<p>He started to affirm, but something stopped him.</p> + +<p>Barely visible ahead were the first low, dark buildings of the mechanoid +world.</p> + +<p>"No," he answered. "I'm getting out here."</p> + +<p>He left the car, walking forward rapidly until the headlights no longer +lighted his path. The trees began to thin out, and his feet struck +concrete. He knew he was beyond the general limits of human activity.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Fear came, now that he was in that land where men never walked. The +buildings loomed around him, forbidding and dark. Further down the +street the lights began, spaced at intervals on the walls.</p> + +<p>"Your attention, please," said a voice at his shoulder. He recoiled, +noticing for the first time a small yellow mechanoid rolling silently +beside him. Its face screen watched him steadily.</p> + +<p>"May I remind you that this is no longer the human zone? I can whistle +an autocar for you, if you wish."</p> + +<p>Sethos felt a twinge of terror as he said, "No, thank you," and +continued to walk.</p> + +<p><i>Now it will begin</i>, he thought. <i>They'll be on me every block. Turn +back. No, don't give up now. What can I lose? They won't hurt me—it's +just a matter of regulation. They can't do anything to me for +disobedience.</i></p> + +<p>Looking up, he saw stars between the clouds. For a moment he could +imagine that perhaps, once upon a time, men must have longed to reach +out in some way across the tremendous distance to the stars. It was a +strange sensation, this longing for something obviously unattainable.</p> + +<p>"Hello," said another voice. "Are you lost?"</p> + +<p>Sethos glanced at the new figure that accompanied him. It was human in +shape, but the fact that it skated on rollers betrayed its nature.</p> + +<p>"No. I'm ... just walking." His voice sounded small and guilty in the +strange city.</p> + +<p>"I see. For exercise?"</p> + +<p>"No—I mean, not exactly. Well, I wanted to see what things were like +outside our zone."</p> + +<p>"Our course."</p> + +<p><i>He won't stop me</i>, Sethos thought with determination.</p> + +<p>"Are you someone I should know?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Tenth level," the mechanoid replied, whirring sedately along beside +him. "I was notified five minutes ago by a circuit walker. He said he +offered to radio for a vehicle, but you did not wish to return."</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"Tell me, Mr. Tenth," Sethos said, trying to appear calm, "do +people—often walk as I'm doing?"</p> + +<p>"No, not often." Mr. Tenth took a step across a small puddle, then +resumed skating.</p> + +<p>"What happens if I get tired of walking?"</p> + +<p>"I can direct you to Mr. Third's office, if you won't mind. He handles +such things."</p> + +<p>"And suppose I keep going?"</p> + +<p>"You'll be followed by an autocar that will pick you up whenever you get +tired."</p> + +<p>"I intend to keep going," Sethos said, his teeth clenched.</p> + +<p>"Very well." The mechanoid rolled away.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + + +<p>Sethos was entering the heart of the city. As far as he could see, the +streets led off into the distance, with the gleaming lights that lined +the buildings on either side diminishing until they merged at a far +vanishing point.</p> + +<p><i>How far does it go?</i> he wondered, overwhelmed. <i>Maybe if I go far +enough, I'll find another community like our own, with men living in it! +What a discovery that would be!</i></p> + +<p>The low hanging clouds threw back the city's glow as far as he could +see.</p> + +<p>In the streets there were now several mechanoids, and their number +increased 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 of +legs. In fact, he saw every gradation between prime mechanoid and +service vehicle. A bizarre parade!</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>It occurred to him to watch for more tenth level mechanoids, and he saw +three immediately, moving with him several yards away. An autocar +cruised patiently.</p> + +<p>"You are heading due west, on Street 751 West, at a speed of three and +eight tenths miles per hour."</p> + +<p>He saw the mechanoid with three wheels again, clocking him helpfully.</p> + +<p>"Go away," he said.</p> + +<p>His breath came hard; he was not used to walking such a distance.</p> + +<p><i>How long can I last? If I keep going, I'll get hungry, and there won't +be any food. They don't serve food out here. I can go until I drop from +exhaustion. Then they'll take me back ... ask me if I want therapy.</i></p> + +<p>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 the +mechanoids would patiently bring him back. On and on ... until he +requested therapy....</p> + +<p>"You are now one mile from zone," said his clocker. "The time is +eleven-twenty-eight p.m."</p> + +<p>The lights burned on into the distance. His legs were beginning to ache, +but still the urge to cross the city was intense.</p> + +<p><i>Maybe I'll go till I come to the ocean</i>, he thought, sucking his +breath. He had seen pictures of the ocean, that featureless blue with +its concrete wall stretching away for thousands of miles.</p> + +<p>A mechanoid stood on a corner, pointing back. So that was the next +trick! Helpful, hinting.... He saw another, showing the way home.</p> + +<p>He grew angry. <i>It'll be a battle of nerves. They'll get nicer and nicer +to me, until I can't stand it any more.</i></p> + +<p>He concentrated on the lights, watching them pass one by one. That +helped.</p> + +<p>"Please note your return route."</p> + +<p>He wondered if they had missed him at the party.</p> + +<p>"There is an autocar at your service."</p> + +<p>They would be preparing to eat the midnight meal, now, he remembered. +The foodmakers would emerge from the kitchens and steal the show in +their performance of taste appeal, warm odors, rare dishes....</p> + +<p>"You are heading due west, on Street 751 West, at a speed of three and +six tenths miles per hour."</p> + +<p>It seemed cold. The mechanoids did not have thermostat stations, for +they did not need them. He shivered slightly.</p> + +<p>"You are now two miles from zone. The time is eleven-forty-five p.m."</p> + +<p><i>The lights. Watch the lights.</i></p> + +<p>"Please submit any request for information here."</p> + +<p>He was panting, and his legs felt weak.</p> + +<p>"There is an autocar...."</p> + +<p>It was useless. Shutting his eyes tight, he stopped.</p> + +<p>"All right. Let's go."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"Good evening," said Mr. Third.</p> + +<p>Sethos seated himself in a contour chair in the center of the softly +lighted office. From behind a curving desk, the brain of a slender metal +cylinder observed the young man before it, checked by radio with five +Mr. Tenths in the space of three and one fifth seconds as to the +incident's details. Then Mr. Third folded his plastic arms and studied +the short brown hair and dark eyes, the lean face and straight nose. +Human features always fascinated him.</p> + +<p>"I'm the human coordinator, Sethos. You know why you're here, don't +you?"</p> + +<p>Sethos nodded.</p> + +<p>"Everyone learns that sometime," Mr. Third remarked. "In a certain +number of births there is a percentage who are of higher intelligence. +These are the restless ones whom we cannot discourage developmentally as +easily as the others. They usually have to request therapy to adjust. So +your case is not new."</p> + +<p>Sethos lit a cigarette. He knew the story, but coming from a third level +prime mechanoid it was all the more impressive.</p> + +<p>"All right, I'm inquisitive. Why must we have therapy? Why do we have to +stay in our zone?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Third paused. He recognized challenge in the young man before him, +and tried to estimate his will power.</p> + +<p>"Did you know that there was on the earth, long ago, lower forms of life +called animals? And that man once specified these and contained them in +cages, from which they were denied exit?"</p> + +<p>"I have read of their place in our biological evolution, but of course +they are before the time of records."</p> + +<p>"Well, we know very little about this practice or its use, but it's +similar to what we have here, I believe. We mechanoids are not concerned +with history, having only one structural law which was built into us by +your ancestors, and it cannot be superseded. We must preserve man in the +state he existed when we were created. We cannot impede his +activities—unless they peril his stability, which we maintain +precisely, as you know. It is impossible, you see, for us to allow man +to change or expand. We have fulfilled that obligation, and continue to +fulfill it. There are no alternatives whatever."</p> + +<p>"I can't see what they had in mind when they made you that way. It +sounds insane."</p> + +<p>"Don't ask why—that is no longer important. We cannot question what is +fundamental to all our operations, the factor present in every formula +we 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, no +less. It is beautiful concept, you'll agree?"</p> + +<p>"You must get terribly bored," Sethos said humorlessly.</p> + +<p>"That word has no meaning for us. Now—do you request therapy?"</p> + +<p>Sethos was startled. He had expected the question, and knew there was +little point in refusing. Yet he hesitated. The desire to learn was +strong.</p> + +<p>Before he could reply, a door opened and another mechanoid rolled in.</p> + +<p>"You didn't whistle, Mr. First," said Mr. Third to the newcomer. +"Something on your mind?"</p> + +<p>Sethos noted that they spoke aloud for his benefit. He inhaled +reflectively of his cigarette.</p> + +<p>"A mutual friend of ours is here," said the first level prime.</p> + +<p>"The one we've been expecting?" asked Mr. Third.</p> + +<p>"That's right. I see you have a young fellow here—out walking?"</p> + +<p>Sethos nodded, wondering what visitor they could have. Perhaps a +mechanoid from another continent—but still such a mechanoid would be in +perpetual contact anyway.</p> + +<p>"Good—come along. It'll save the gentleman some time. He's looking for +this sort of thing."</p> + +<p>"Save him some time! He's in a hurry?" interrupted Sethos.</p> + +<p>"For this man, time is very important," said Mr. First gravely.</p> + +<p>"Where is he now?" asked Third.</p> + +<p>"In my office, studying the vocabulary. Shall we go over?"</p> + +<p>More curious than ever, Sethos followed the mechanoids down the corridor +to a slide. Holding the rail, he felt the car surge through its shaft at +a tremendous speed.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>They emerged into the first level office. Two other first level +mechanoids sat reading formulated material, while near the center stood +a tall man, his eyes on a page of printed matter in his hands. He had no +hair, and wore only a simple gray cloak over a white, loose-fitting +one-piece suit. Sethos regarded his graceful appearance and +sophisticated demeanor.</p> + +<p>"Hello," he said, looking up. "I am Hol."</p> + +<p>Sethos nodded cautiously. "My name is Sethos."</p> + +<p>For a moment, Hol looked at the two Mr. Firsts reading, then at the one +standing. There seemed to be some sort of communication between them. +Then he spoke again.</p> + +<p>"Are you discontented with your culture?"</p> + +<p>"Of course. I don't believe man's curiosity should be restricted."</p> + +<p>"I see. What do you propose in this case?"</p> + +<p>Sethos was perplexed. He had not dreamed of a possible solution. But +perhaps there was one!</p> + +<p>"I don't know. If mechanoid control could be removed, I think humans +would expand over all the planet. Then they could progress by +themselves."</p> + +<p>"Do you think they can?"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Do you think humans can progress further—without mechanoids?"</p> + +<p><i>Further</i>—so that was it. The creation of mechanoids must represent the +height of human development. Which meant they were necessary to going +on, reaching the stars....</p> + +<p>"You mean, if humans could work <i>with</i> mechanoids, we could even travel +to other worlds and spread throughout the universe?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>Sethos did not understand. But another thought struck him.</p> + +<p>"Just a moment, Hol. I've never seen you before. Where are you from?"</p> + +<p>"From Antares System. I am an ethnographer, making a survey of the +planets of man's early history."</p> + +<p>Sethos was stunned.</p> + +<p>"You—you are from out in <i>space</i>? From the <i>stars</i>?"</p> + +<p>"That is correct. Man lives everywhere in the universe. But as Mr. Third +said, that may be misleading."</p> + +<p>Sethos disregarded the comment. It didn't matter if he were alone or +not, at least he was <i>there</i>—man in the universe!</p> + +<p>"I have completed a section of my work here. It is necessary to speak +with the first level alone, if possible," said Hol.</p> + +<p>"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? You +have clearance to come in directly when you decide."</p> + +<p>"Yes—yes, certainly."</p> + +<p>In his shock he was barely conscious of an autocar hurtling through the +dark 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.</p> + +<p>Stepping from the autocar, Sethos felt the night breeze on his face. He +looked upward at the sky, saw the stars like fierce eyes that had been +watching all along. The revelation was too much to take, he thought. +Suddenly Earth itself, so vastly greater than the small reservation of +men, and short hours ago a veritable infinity, seemed tiny and +insignificant.</p> + +<p>"Why, Sethos! Where have you been?"</p> + +<p>It was Paton's voice. The old man stood alone on the path.</p> + +<p>"Paton, you couldn't guess what has happened. It's incredible!"</p> + +<p>"Come up and get a drink, boy. You look exhausted. I was alarmed when I +found you'd left."</p> + +<p>Sethos took his arm and faced him squarely.</p> + +<p>"Paton—I left the zone, and was taken to Mr. First's office. And do you +know who I met? I met a man from the stars! Think of it! A man from +other worlds, Paton. Do you realize that human beings have <i>already</i> +traveled those fantastic distances, long ago? They must have forgotten +about us on Earth!"</p> + +<p>"Why, that is amazing. It just goes to show you, there's nothing new +under the sun. Come along, and get that drink. I found some <i>exquisite</i> +wine."</p> + +<p>Sethos stopped. His hand slipped from Paton's arm.</p> + +<p>"Paton.... Did you hear what I said? Didn't it penetrate? I said man has +<i>reached</i> the stars! We already own the universe...."</p> + +<p>"Of course. But I must say I don't know what we want with it all. Won't +you join us now? Say, Ela has been looking for you."</p> + +<p>"Ela? Yes, Ela. I want to see Ela...."</p> + +<p>She came down the walk, and took him by the hands.</p> + +<p>"<i>There</i> you are, you elusive boy! I want to go home now. I simply have +to adjust my crystals or they'll overflow the bedroom. Oh, Matya! Thank +you for a splendid time. I'll be having you over next week, don't +forget."</p> + +<p>Then they were down from the hill and in the park, and the party flowed +on behind them, forgetting.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>They were home again, and Ela hurried off to add nutrients to the huge +crystal sculpture that was growing in the bedroom. It glowed and +vibrated in every color of the spectrum, and strange textures developed +at those edges where Ela hovered with a glass dropper and her chemicals, +touching, wiping, smoothing....</p> + +<p>"Oh, it nearly got away from me over here. I <i>must</i> get these reds to +balance, or the whole thing will never refract properly at all. Did you +know, Seth—they want to erect it in Central Plaza when I'm finished! +Isn't that wonderful?" Her pleased face sparkled as she worked.</p> + +<p>Sethos sat on the bed, folding his hands in his lap. Still stunned by +Paton's reaction, he gazed absently at the floor.</p> + +<p>"Ela, I met a man tonight. He is a very important man."</p> + +<p>"Yes, there were <i>so</i> many dolls there. I only wish I had met Andian +again. He'd be so jealous if he knew I was acclaimed for exhibition in +the Plaza."</p> + +<p>"I don't mean at the party."</p> + +<p>Ela turned. "Really, dear? Where was he?"</p> + +<p>"In the office of Mr. First. He wanted to talk to me."</p> + +<p>"You went outside zone? Whatever for?"</p> + +<p>Sethos rose and took her shoulders firmly in his hands.</p> + +<p>"This man is from another planet, Ela. He told me that people live all +over the universe!"</p> + +<p>"You don't say!"</p> + +<p>"They left the earth a long time ago. They've traveled between the stars +for centuries and centuries!"</p> + +<p>"That's wonderful, dear. Help me with this pot of dye, will you, Seth?"</p> + +<p>Sethos drew back, unbelieving.</p> + +<p>"Ela.... The stars are trillions of miles apart. Men have learned to fly +between them somehow!"</p> + +<p>"It's breathtaking. The dye?"</p> + +<p>"Quintillions, some of them! Think of it, Ela!" Sethos was shaking with +agitation.</p> + +<p>"Dearest," said Ela, moving away from him, "do you think we might move +closer to Center after my Plaza crystal is finished? I'd like to be able +to look out and see it every morning in the sun...."</p> + +<p>She wasn't listening! <i>She didn't care!</i></p> + +<p>"Ela. Ela, love—listen to me! What's wrong with you? Can't you <i>see</i>?" +His voice shrank to a whisper.</p> + +<p>She smiled tolerantly. "Of course, dear."</p> + +<p>"I'm telling you something no one has dreamed of before and you fuss +about your crystals! Don't you ever get sick of this little cage? Don't +you ever feel like getting out and running away?"</p> + +<p>"Cage?"</p> + +<p>"I'm telling you the earth can be ours! People can live like mechanoids +if they'll only wake up and stop their childish play!"</p> + +<p>"But why, dear?"</p> + +<p>"<i>Why?</i> We were <i>meant</i> to, that's why. Because we've already <i>done</i> it, +or someone has. But <i>we're</i> still here, left behind. We've got to catch +up!"</p> + +<p>"How silly." She returned to her chemicals.</p> + +<p>Sethos felt a burning rage seize him. This woman he had loved—she was +only 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 talking +about. She didn't <i>care</i>!</p> + +<p>Furious, he grasped a heavy bronze ash tray and hurled it, hard as he +could, into the mass of shining crystal that filled the room. With an +explosive rainbow of color and a reverberating crash, it collapsed under +the heavy blow into a million tiny fragments.</p> + +<p>He stood, glaring at the scattered shards, waiting for Ela to leap at +him, screaming and clawing him for the ruin he had made of her +masterpiece.</p> + +<p>But she only smiled weakly, and shrugged.</p> + +<p>"Dear, that was very irrational. I think you had better request therapy +one of these days. Now I shall have to start all over again. But don't +fret, sweet. I had a much better idea anyway. I can get sensational +results using fluorides."</p> + +<p>She wouldn't fight him—she couldn't think of such an act, raised in a +world where coercion and violence did not exist. She didn't care about +<i>anything</i>!</p> + +<p>Calm now, he knew what to do. Striding swiftly from the house, he went +straight to the vehicle space. He got into an autocar and slammed the +door.</p> + +<p>"Direction, please."</p> + +<p>"Contact Dispatching. Ask for permission to go directly to first level +primary. Tell them it's Sethos."</p> + +<p>Pause. "Permission granted."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"Come in, Sethos. What can I do for you?"</p> + +<p>Sethos looked around the room anxiously.</p> + +<p>"I want to make a request, Mr. First, if it isn't too late."</p> + +<p>"Too late?"</p> + +<p>"I would like to see Hol before he leaves. Is he still here?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I can arrange it. His time is budgeted, you understand."</p> + +<p>"I <i>must</i> see him."</p> + +<p>Mr. First was silent for a moment, and Sethos realized he was contacting +someone. Then, he announced, "Yes, he's willing to see you. Go through +this door. His compartment is the second down the corridor."</p> + +<p>Sethos thanked him and hurried out. Finding the door, he hesitated an +instant, then went in.</p> + +<p>"Good morning," said Hol.</p> + +<p>There was a second man standing beside him, dressed in the same manner +and of the same stature as Hol.</p> + +<p>"I had to see you," Sethos began hastily, not expecting to encounter two +men.</p> + +<p>"I see. This is Bek, a field observer. He was at your party last night."</p> + +<p>Sethos remembered the stranger he had taken for a spying apprentice on +the hillside. He felt embarrassed, but brushed it aside.</p> + +<p>"I ... want you to take me with you."</p> + +<p>Hol looked at his companion.</p> + +<p>"I don't fit here," Sethos went on. "Mr. Third himself said I'm more +intelligent than the others—I'm the only one who knows what your visit +means. I want to go where people are interested in learning and +progress. If I stay here I'll have to fool around with a hobby the rest +of my life. There's no work, no expansion. You can see why I have to +leave, can't you? I'm the <i>curious</i> type."</p> + +<p>"You don't know what you're asking."</p> + +<p>"Why? Can't you take me with you? What harm would it do?"</p> + +<p>"Well, there are rules."</p> + +<p>"But—I'm not just anybody. I'm an exception to the rule. I qualify as a +genius—you mean there isn't a place for me <i>somewhere</i> in the universe? +Surely you can use a smart man!"</p> + +<p>"You are a genius, that's true," said Bek, in a deep, serious voice. "As +long as you remain here. Hundreds of centuries ago, your ancestors +discovered principles that are not even expressible in your language, +and learned to apply them to matter. Soon they knew no boundaries. The +earth was not forgotten, but it was no longer important. It still is +only a statistic. And we are here to examine it briefly. We have many +others to visit.</p> + +<p>"You see, Sethos, man changed out in space. He is a long way from your +ancestors who started all this. But before those ancient men left, they +established Earth as a control planet, to maintain forever a specimen of +the original stock. It may have been done out of his egocentric ideas at +the time, but it proved wise, for such a specimen is valuable in our +research."</p> + +<p>"Sethos," said Hol, seeing the bewilderment on the young man's face, +"the mechanoids who attend your little community are more than one +hundred thousand years old. That is how long your little culture has +been faithfully preserved, just as it was then. You would not be capable +of 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, after +all, a savage."</p> + +<p>Sethos was dazed.</p> + +<p>He—an atavism, a prehistoric man! No wonder his people behaved as they +did—they were merely a docile herd of caged animals, kept complacent +and well-fed by the keepers outside. An extinct beast, left to be tended +until the earth reached the end of its course as a flaming speck in the +infinite cavern of space!</p> + +<p>"You—you <i>must</i> 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!"</p> + +<p>"Even now you exhibit one of your primitive traits—pride of being a +man. But you will adjust to life. It is as it should be."</p> + +<p>"But—"</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do."</p> + +<p>"No, wait—I...."</p> + +<p>The two men were gone.</p> + +<p>Sethos stared. He was alone in the room. A constriction grew in his +throat, and he felt weak. Indeed, man had changed.</p> + +<p>"Sethos?"</p> + +<p>Mr. First stood in the door.</p> + +<p>"Yes...."</p> + +<p>Now the pattern was clear. Sethos—the curious man, the genius—was +doomed. He had lost a battle in which he never had a chance. Still, he +had fought.</p> + +<p>But walking down the corridor with the mechanoid, he knew that no one +lost completely. He knew that Sethos, the human, the adjusted hobbyist, +would soon look back on this night as though it were an ordinary phase +of life.</p> + +<p>Then, on the table, with the gently humming mechanism lowered to his +head, the knot in his throat softened.</p> + +<p>"All yours," said Mr. First to Mr. Third.</p> + +<p>"A remarkable case," said Mr. Third. "Sometimes I wish we kept a record +of his kind. It might be very interesting."</p> + +<p>"Someday, perhaps. When our work grows dull."</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Genius, by Con Pederson and Paul Orban + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GENIUS *** + +***** This file should be named 32861-h.htm or 32861-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/8/6/32861/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Genius + +Author: Con Pederson + Paul Orban + +Release Date: June 17, 2010 [EBook #32861] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GENIUS *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE GENIUS + + By Con Pederson + + Illustrated by Paul Orban + +[Transcriber Note: This etext was produced from IF Worlds of Science +Fiction May 1954. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that +the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] + + +[Sidenote: _Sethos was a great artist, a talented man, quite possibly +the most famous man of his time and world. But, alas!--there were other +worlds. And is not the grass always greener...?_] + + +Sethos entered the park. Brown autumn leaves crumpled sharply beneath +his feet, the green grass sank. The sun was nearly gone, and the last of +the children passed him, chattering as they faded into the twilight. +Only one other person remained in the park, and she was waiting for +Sethos. + +"Ela," he said. "Have you been here long?" + +She touched his cheek with hers in greeting. + +"Not at all. I'm in no hurry." She handed him a cigarette as they walked +together, then lit her own and breathed deeply of the scented fumes. +"Nothing special about Matya's parties--unless she has that intriguing +man there again. What's his name? You know--" + +"You must mean Andian, the sculptor. The man who built North Square, to +hear him talk. What about him?" + +Ela laughed. "He'd never heard of my fluid porcelain. Isn't that silly? +After everyone in West has been overwhelmed with the color effects, he +turns up, a perfect innocent. I showed him pliables." + +Smiling, Sethos recalled it was Ela's enthusiasm that had first +attracted him, as it had most of the males in their clique. Then too, +she was beautiful, with startling gold hair and a delicate round face +that always aroused flattery. Tonight he felt especially aware of her +beside him, and the quick beat of her sandals on the pavement. + +The lights of Matya's hillhouse gleamed before them, enticing all who +wandered through West Park this evening. The party had started, as +parties always did, at that unknown instant shortly before the first +guest's arrival. It was thriving now, for the colors behind the +contoured glass facade throbbed as though underwater, and people sat +along the terraced hillside, talking and inhaling the elegant smoke from +smoldering chalices that stood around the entrance. + +They climbed the flagstone path toward the low, pale yellow building. +Luxuriant plants grew thick along the walls, creating a jungle that +extended even to the inner rooms of the house. + +"Sethos, my friend!" said an unsteady voice. + +The old man was seated in shadow by the house, a glass of sparkling +liquor on the arm of his chair. Against the green background of giant +plants, his frail, pink face resembled a huge bud that would open when +daylight came. + +"How are you, Paton?" Sethos asked warmly. "I remember you from +somewhere in East. It must be years.... Weren't you gardening with Ana? +Of course--developing a perfect Lyocanthia. What a welcome sight you are +among these woodcutters!" + +"You're a fellow greensman now, they say," beamed Paton happily, seizing +his glass and leaning forward. "Such an honor to us. You work with +succulents--right?" + +Sethos smiled. He watched Ela disappear into the interior of the +sprawling hillhouse, heard her distant laugh become part of the +machinery of voices. People drifted to and fro across the broad lawns. + +"Yes," answered Sethos, drawing up a chair. "Succulents are my latest +joy. One must specialize. I like to work with growing things, yet I'd +feel like a mechanoid if I got involved in crystal sculpture, like my +charming Ela there." + +"Perhaps--but who else gets such _color_, starts so many new directions +as she? My flowers blush before her crystals." Paton's glass was empty, +and with an automatic gesture, Sethos refilled it from a tall flask +standing nearby, and poured one for himself. + +"Speaking of mechanoids," Paton continued genially, "I had a most +stimulating conversation with Mr. First himself a few days ago. He came +to see me." + +Sethos blinked. That was unusual--mechanoids seldom mingled with humans, +especially those of the primary levels. + +"He's very intelligent about flowers," Paton went on, waving his glass +in animation. "We talked about common hedge roses. Did you know he +raises them?" + +"Amazing!" Sethos drank deeply of the fiery liquor. Now the drifting +plumes of smoke from the chalices performed fantasies with his vision, +and his body felt light again, as it had so often in the evenings of the +past few years. + +"Of course I was flattered, having a visit from the _most_ prime +mechanoid. He could have called me, but they are somewhat conscious of +being mechanical as it is, and try to be cordial as possible." + +Sethos leaned forward eagerly. "Did he say anything about--their +activities?" + +"Well, that's not too interesting to me, because it's always just one +change after another outside. He did say there is a new earth-bridge +between the continents. Doesn't it seem incredible that they should want +to go to all that trouble? But then, that's a mechanoid for you. Always +making things bigger. That's why I enjoy seeing Mr. First take up +flowers. Maybe he sees things our way himself." + +"I don't suppose you've ever been out there, have you?" + +"Out there? You mean, where the mechanoids live? Why, now that you +mention it, I believe I was, once. But a long time ago--I must have been +still living with my elders. It's not very enjoyable. Too big to call +home, after all." With a short laugh, Paton emptied his glass again. + +Sethos frowned. The idea that the world was so large fascinated him. As +his contemporaries and their ancestors for unknown generations, Sethos +had passed from dreamy childhood directly into the dream of adult life. +He could barely recall the days of education, when drugged smoke and +liquor were withheld, and life consisted of a different fairy world. How +he had loved the gay mechanoid nurses, with their tinkling arms and +bright colors! But of their world, the vast reaches of the planet +outside the tiny circle of men, he knew very little. One fact was plain +to him: it was unthinkably huge. + +Sudden music poured from the house, gay and fast. + +"Ha! The dancers!" exclaimed Paton, seeing the rows of gyrating figures +beyond a pink translucent wall. "You must excuse me. I promised Matya I +would watch her dance tonight." + +Paton hurried away, leaving Sethos to wander along the dimly lighted +terrace. The party had lightened his senses as expected, yet his +thoughts were heavy. He remembered the library, and the strange legends +in the books. Legends of ancient cities of men, over all the earth, and +of the prehistoric machines used by men to travel great distances. And +always in the old legends men were very much like the industrious +mechanoids--ever building, ever moving.... + +How he wished he might live in those days! He knew the pleasure of +creating, for he had been acclaimed a genius in music before he was +twenty, and his mastery of painting and architecture had won the +admiration of all the human zone. Still, he was not satisfied, and often +lay awake in the early hours of morning after a stirring party, dreaming +of those long-gone days of empire, when he could have ridden with the +ancients through the sky on their winged craft, see their cities rise +toward the clouds, experience the exciting pace of that life. What +remarkable ambitions they must have had! + + * * * * * + +As Sethos reached the end of the terrace, he was hailed by a garmenter +named Brin, standing with a group of men around a light projector. The +colors sprayed up about their faces, matching the gaudy orange of Brin's +trousers and the blue of his little plumed hat. + +"Greetings, Sethos! How are the crops up North? Still live with Ela?" + +"They're fine, Brin. Live with Ela? No more than anyone else these +days." + +Brin chuckled. "A neat remark, Seth--I must remember it to your true +love the next time I have reason to see her." + +The men laughed appreciatively, the colors wheeling in rhythm across +their grinning faces. + +Suddenly three young women converged on the group, having spied Sethos +from inside. + +"Oh, Sethos!" one cried. "How wonderful you're here!" + +"Are you still composing that _magnificent_ diphonic music?" asked +another breathlessly. + +Grimly, he realized he was trapped again. Every party brought on +something like this. How could he explain to these well-meaning girls +that he was trying to forget the past, that it bored him, that his music +was trite and his painting insipid? Still they would clamor for it. + +"Excuse me," muttered Sethos, walking away. His ears rang with their +adulation, but it always sickened him. Efforts he considered nothing at +all were worshiped by the others. It was demoralizing. + +Following the path around the corner, he descended from the noise of the +house, opening his mouth and inhaling the cool night air as though to +cleanse his lungs. He was growing extremely weary of the people at +parties. + +From here he could see the town laid out below, the four directions of +it, and he tried to guess how many times he had walked each street one +end to the other, then turned around and walked back, simply because no +one ever considered going straight on. + +At that moment a tall, lean man approached him. He was a stranger, with +a bearing Sethos did not recognize. + +"How do you do, Sethos," he said softly. "I understand you are the most +accomplished of your group. May I ask a few questions?" + +Someone from across town, obviously. He knew the type--they traveled +between the cliques, learning of new trends and ideas to pirate. He had +done it once himself. + +"I'm sorry. I don't have any new goodies for your side of town. Why +don'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 these +apprentices, 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 voice +somewhere 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 of +it. + +As he rode, he wondered desperately what was wrong with him. He was +easily the most talented of men, yet he was unhappy. Perhaps it was +because they all treated him so adoringly that he was tired of them. He +saw nowhere that drive which was so strong in him, the urge to go on to +bigger things. He had sought it in his friends many times before, but +gave up when no one knew what he meant. Even as a child his elders said +he should have been born a mechanoid. It was a jest that was deathly +true. + +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 mechanoid +world. + +"No," he answered. "I'm getting out here." + +He left the car, walking forward rapidly until the headlights no longer +lighted his path. The trees began to thin out, and his feet struck +concrete. He knew he was beyond the general limits of human activity. + + * * * * * + +Fear came, now that he was in that land where men never walked. The +buildings loomed around him, forbidding and dark. Further down the +street 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 silently +beside him. Its face screen watched him steadily. + +"May I remind you that this is no longer the human zone? I can whistle +an autocar for you, if you wish." + +Sethos felt a twinge of terror as he said, "No, thank you," and +continued to walk. + +_Now it will begin_, he thought. _They'll be on me every block. Turn +back. No, don't give up now. What can I lose? They won't hurt me--it's +just a matter of regulation. They can't do anything to me for +disobedience._ + +Looking up, he saw stars between the clouds. For a moment he could +imagine that perhaps, once upon a time, men must have longed to reach +out in some way across the tremendous distance to the stars. It was a +strange 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 in +shape, but the fact that it skated on rollers betrayed its nature. + +"No. I'm ... just walking." His voice sounded small and guilty in the +strange city. + +"I see. For exercise?" + +"No--I mean, not exactly. Well, I wanted to see what things were like +outside 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 beside +him. "I was notified five minutes ago by a circuit walker. He said he +offered 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, "do +people--often walk as I'm doing?" + +"No, not often." Mr. Tenth took a step across a small puddle, then +resumed skating. + +"What happens if I get tired of walking?" + +"I can direct you to Mr. Third's office, if you won't mind. He handles +such things." + +"And suppose I keep going?" + +"You'll be followed by an autocar that will pick you up whenever you get +tired." + +"I intend to keep going," Sethos said, his teeth clenched. + +"Very well." The mechanoid rolled away. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration] + +Sethos was entering the heart of the city. As far as he could see, the +streets led off into the distance, with the gleaming lights that lined +the buildings on either side diminishing until they merged at a far +vanishing point. + +_How far does it go?_ he wondered, overwhelmed. _Maybe if I go far +enough, 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 could +see. + +In the streets there were now several mechanoids, and their number +increased 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 of +legs. In fact, he saw every gradation between prime mechanoid and +service 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 saw +three immediately, moving with him several yards away. An autocar +cruised patiently. + +"You are heading due west, on Street 751 West, at a speed of three and +eight 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't +be any food. They don't serve food out here. I can go until I drop from +exhaustion. 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 the +mechanoids would patiently bring him back. On and on ... until he +requested therapy.... + +"You are now one mile from zone," said his clocker. "The time is +eleven-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 his +breath. He had seen pictures of the ocean, that featureless blue with +its concrete wall stretching away for thousands of miles. + +A mechanoid stood on a corner, pointing back. So that was the next +trick! Helpful, hinting.... He saw another, showing the way home. + +He grew angry. _It'll be a battle of nerves. They'll get nicer and nicer +to me, until I can't stand it any more._ + +He concentrated on the lights, watching them pass one by one. That +helped. + +"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 in +their performance of taste appeal, warm odors, rare dishes.... + +"You are heading due west, on Street 751 West, at a speed of three and +six tenths miles per hour." + +It seemed cold. The mechanoids did not have thermostat stations, for +they 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 softly +lighted office. From behind a curving desk, the brain of a slender metal +cylinder observed the young man before it, checked by radio with five +Mr. Tenths in the space of three and one fifth seconds as to the +incident's details. Then Mr. Third folded his plastic arms and studied +the 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't +you?" + +Sethos nodded. + +"Everyone learns that sometime," Mr. Third remarked. "In a certain +number of births there is a percentage who are of higher intelligence. +These are the restless ones whom we cannot discourage developmentally as +easily as the others. They usually have to request therapy to adjust. So +your case is not new." + +Sethos lit a cigarette. He knew the story, but coming from a third level +prime mechanoid it was all the more impressive. + +"All right, I'm inquisitive. Why must we have therapy? Why do we have to +stay 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 life +called animals? And that man once specified these and contained them in +cages, from which they were denied exit?" + +"I have read of their place in our biological evolution, but of course +they are before the time of records." + +"Well, we know very little about this practice or its use, but it's +similar to what we have here, I believe. We mechanoids are not concerned +with history, having only one structural law which was built into us by +your ancestors, and it cannot be superseded. We must preserve man in the +state he existed when we were created. We cannot impede his +activities--unless they peril his stability, which we maintain +precisely, as you know. It is impossible, you see, for us to allow man +to change or expand. We have fulfilled that obligation, and continue to +fulfill it. There are no alternatives whatever." + +"I can't see what they had in mind when they made you that way. It +sounds insane." + +"Don't ask why--that is no longer important. We cannot question what is +fundamental to all our operations, the factor present in every formula +we 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, no +less. 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 was +little point in refusing. Yet he hesitated. The desire to learn was +strong. + +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 inhaled +reflectively 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 a +mechanoid from another continent--but still such a mechanoid would be in +perpetual contact anyway. + +"Good--come along. It'll save the gentleman some time. He's looking for +this 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 corridor +to a slide. Holding the rail, he felt the car surge through its shaft at +a tremendous speed. + + * * * * * + +They emerged into the first level office. Two other first level +mechanoids sat reading formulated material, while near the center stood +a tall man, his eyes on a page of printed matter in his hands. He had no +hair, and wore only a simple gray cloak over a white, loose-fitting +one-piece suit. Sethos regarded his graceful appearance and +sophisticated 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 one +standing. 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. But +perhaps there was one! + +"I don't know. If mechanoid control could be removed, I think humans +would expand over all the planet. Then they could progress by +themselves." + +"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 the +height of human development. Which meant they were necessary to going +on, reaching the stars.... + +"You mean, if humans could work _with_ mechanoids, we could even travel +to 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 the +planets 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. Third +said, that may be misleading." + +Sethos disregarded the comment. It didn't matter if he were alone or +not, at least he was _there_--man in the universe! + +"I have completed a section of my work here. It is necessary to speak +with 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? You +have clearance to come in directly when you decide." + +"Yes--yes, certainly." + +In his shock he was barely conscious of an autocar hurtling through the +dark 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. He +looked upward at the sky, saw the stars like fierce eyes that had been +watching all along. The revelation was too much to take, he thought. +Suddenly Earth itself, so vastly greater than the small reservation of +men, and short hours ago a veritable infinity, seemed tiny and +insignificant. + +"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 I +found 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 you +know who I met? I met a man from the stars! Think of it! A man from +other worlds, Paton. Do you realize that human beings have _already_ +traveled those fantastic distances, long ago? They must have forgotten +about us on Earth!" + +"Why, that is amazing. It just goes to show you, there's nothing new +under 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't +you 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 have +to adjust my crystals or they'll overflow the bedroom. Oh, Matya! Thank +you for a splendid time. I'll be having you over next week, don't +forget." + +Then they were down from the hill and in the park, and the party flowed +on behind them, forgetting. + + * * * * * + +They were home again, and Ela hurried off to add nutrients to the huge +crystal sculpture that was growing in the bedroom. It glowed and +vibrated in every color of the spectrum, and strange textures developed +at 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 to +balance, or the whole thing will never refract properly at all. Did you +know, 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 by +Paton'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 Andian +again. He'd be so jealous if he knew I was acclaimed for exhibition in +the 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 all +over the universe!" + +"You don't say!" + +"They left the earth a long time ago. They've traveled between the stars +for 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 fly +between them somehow!" + +"It's breathtaking. The dye?" + +"Quintillions, some of them! Think of it, Ela!" Sethos was shaking with +agitation. + +"Dearest," said Ela, moving away from him, "do you think we might move +closer to Center after my Plaza crystal is finished? I'd like to be able +to 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 fuss +about your crystals! Don't you ever get sick of this little cage? Don't +you ever feel like getting out and running away?" + +"Cage?" + +"I'm telling you the earth can be ours! People can live like mechanoids +if 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 catch +up!" + +"How silly." She returned to her chemicals. + +Sethos felt a burning rage seize him. This woman he had loved--she was +only 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 talking +about. She didn't _care_! + +Furious, he grasped a heavy bronze ash tray and hurled it, hard as he +could, into the mass of shining crystal that filled the room. With an +explosive rainbow of color and a reverberating crash, it collapsed under +the heavy blow into a million tiny fragments. + +He stood, glaring at the scattered shards, waiting for Ela to leap at +him, screaming and clawing him for the ruin he had made of her +masterpiece. + +But she only smiled weakly, and shrugged. + +"Dear, that was very irrational. I think you had better request therapy +one of these days. Now I shall have to start all over again. But don't +fret, sweet. I had a much better idea anyway. I can get sensational +results using fluorides." + +She wouldn't fight him--she couldn't think of such an act, raised in a +world 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 went +straight to the vehicle space. He got into an autocar and slammed the +door. + +"Direction, please." + +"Contact Dispatching. Ask for permission to go directly to first level +primary. 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 contacting +someone. Then, he announced, "Yes, he's willing to see you. Go through +this door. His compartment is the second down the corridor." + +Sethos thanked him and hurried out. Finding the door, he hesitated an +instant, then went in. + +"Good morning," said Hol. + +There was a second man standing beside him, dressed in the same manner +and of the same stature as Hol. + +"I had to see you," Sethos began hastily, not expecting to encounter two +men. + +"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 on +the 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 more +intelligent than the others--I'm the only one who knows what your visit +means. I want to go where people are interested in learning and +progress. If I stay here I'll have to fool around with a hobby the rest +of my life. There's no work, no expansion. You can see why I have to +leave, 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 a +genius--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. "As +long as you remain here. Hundreds of centuries ago, your ancestors +discovered principles that are not even expressible in your language, +and learned to apply them to matter. Soon they knew no boundaries. The +earth was not forgotten, but it was no longer important. It still is +only a statistic. And we are here to examine it briefly. We have many +others to visit. + +"You see, Sethos, man changed out in space. He is a long way from your +ancestors who started all this. But before those ancient men left, they +established Earth as a control planet, to maintain forever a specimen of +the original stock. It may have been done out of his egocentric ideas at +the time, but it proved wise, for such a specimen is valuable in our +research." + +"Sethos," said Hol, seeing the bewilderment on the young man's face, +"the mechanoids who attend your little community are more than one +hundred thousand years old. That is how long your little culture has +been faithfully preserved, just as it was then. You would not be capable +of 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, after +all, a savage." + +Sethos was dazed. + +He--an atavism, a prehistoric man! No wonder his people behaved as they +did--they were merely a docile herd of caged animals, kept complacent +and well-fed by the keepers outside. An extinct beast, left to be tended +until the earth reached the end of its course as a flaming speck in the +infinite 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 a +man. 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 his +throat, and he felt weak. Indeed, man had changed. + +"Sethos?" + +Mr. First stood in the door. + +"Yes...." + +Now the pattern was clear. Sethos--the curious man, the genius--was +doomed. He had lost a battle in which he never had a chance. Still, he +had fought. + +But walking down the corridor with the mechanoid, he knew that no one +lost completely. He knew that Sethos, the human, the adjusted hobbyist, +would soon look back on this night as though it were an ordinary phase +of life. + +Then, on the table, with the gently humming mechanism lowered to his +head, the knot in his throat softened. + +"All yours," said Mr. First to Mr. Third. + +"A remarkable case," said Mr. Third. "Sometimes I wish we kept a record +of his kind. It might be very interesting." + +"Someday, perhaps. When our work grows dull." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Genius, by Con Pederson and Paul Orban + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GENIUS *** + +***** This file should be named 32861.txt or 32861.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/8/6/32861/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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