Sledge lay propped up, scrubbed very clean and neatly shorn, with his gnarled old hands folded on top of the spotless sheets. His raw-boned cheeks and sockets were hollowed, still, but a healthy pink had replaced that deathly blueness. Bandages covered the back of his head.
Underhill shifted uneasily.
"Oh!" he whispered faintly. "I didn"t know-"
A prim black mechanical, which had been standing statue-like behind the bed, turned gracefully to Underhill, explaining, "Mr. Sledge has been suffering for many years from a benign tumor of the brain, which his human doctors failed to diagnose. That caused his headaches, and certain persistent hallucinations. We have removed the growth, and now the hallucinations have also vanished."
Underhill stared uncertainly at the blind, urbane mechanical.
"What hallucinations?"
"Mr. Sledge thought he was a rhodomagnetic engineer," the mechanical explained. "He believed he was the creator of the humanoids. He was troubled with an irrational belief that he did not like the Prime Directive."
The wan man moved on the pillows, astonished.
"Is that so?" The gaunt face held a cheerful blankness, and the hollow eyes flashed with a merely momentary interest. "Well, whoever did design them, they"re pretty wonderful. Aren"t they, Underhill?"
Underhill was grateful that he didn"t have to answer, for the bright, empty eyes dropped shut and the old man fell suddenly asleep. He felt the mechanical touch his sleeve, and saw its silent nod. Obediently, he followed it away.
Alert and solicitous, the little black mechanical accompanied him down the shining corridor, and worked the elevator for him, and conducted him back to the car. It drove him efficiently back through the new and splendid avenues, toward the magnificent prison of his home.
Sitting beside it in the car, he watched its small deft hands on the wheel, the changing l.u.s.ter of bronze and blue on its shining blackness. The final machine, perfect and beautiful, created to serve mankind forever. He shuddered.
"At your service, Mr. Underhill." Its blind steel eyes stared straight ahead, but it was still aware of him. "What"s the matter, sir? Aren"t you happy?"
Underhill felt cold and faint with terror. His skin turned clammy, and a painful p.r.i.c.kling came over him. His wet hand tensed on the door handle of the car, but he restrained the impulse to jump and run. That was folly. There was no escape. He made himself sit still.
"You will be happy, sir," the mechanical promised him cheerfully. "We have learned how to make all men happy, under the Prime Directive. Our service is perfect, at last. Even Mr. Sledge is very happy now."
Underhill tried to speak, and his dry throat stuck. He felt ill. The world turned dim and gray. The humanoids were perfect-no question of that. They had even learned to lie, to secure the contentment of men.
He knew they had lied. That was no tumor they had removed from Sledge"s brain, but the memory, the scientific knowledge, and the bitter disillusion of their own creator. But it was true that Sledge was happy now. He tried to stop his own convulsive quivering.
"A wonderful operation!" His voice came forced and faint. "You know, Aurora has had a lot of funny tenants, but that old man was the absolute limit. The very idea that he had made the humanoids, and he knew how to stop them! I always knew he must be lying!"
Stiff with terror, he made a weak and hollow laugh.
"What is the matter, Mr. Underhill?" The alert mechanical must have perceived his shuddering illness. "Are you unwell?"
"No, there"s nothing the matter with me," he gasped desperately. "I"ve just found out that I"m perfectly happy, under the Prime Directive. Everything is absolutely wonderful." His voice came dry and hoa.r.s.e and wild. "You won"t have to operate on me."
The car turned off the shining avenue, taking him back to the quiet splendor of his home. His futile hands clenched and relaxed again, folded on his knees. There was nothing left to do.
end.