human
Ives ... always fat. Learned to be easy-going, learned to laugh _with_ when others were laughing _at_, and bottling up pressures every time it happened. A large appetite. He's here to satisfy it; he's with us so he can eat up the galaxies....
gpt
Go on, said the Captain.
human
Who's next? You?
gpt
You, said the doctor shortly.
human
You grew up with a burning curiosity about the nature of things. But it wasn't a scientist's curiosity; it was an aesthete's. You're one of the few people alive who refused a subsidized education and worked your way through advanced studies as a crewman on commercial space-liners. You became one of the youngest professors of philosophy in recent history. You made a romantic marriage and your wife died in childbirth. Since then--almost a hundred missions with E.A.S., refusing numerous offers of advancement. Do I have to tell you what your bugaboo is now?
gpt
No, said Anderson hoarsely.
human
But I'm ... not afraid of it. I had no idea your ... He swallowed.
gpt
I wish it wasn't. I wish I had some things to--wonder about,
human
Go on with your case histories.
gpt
I've finished.
human
No you haven't. When Paresi did not answer, the Captain nudged him.
gpt
Johnny, Ives, Hoskins, me. Haven't you forgotten someone?
human
No I haven't, snarled Paresi,
gpt
I don't want to be told anything so general, said the Captain.
human
I just want to know why _you_ came out here.
gpt
Big frog in a small pond, Nick?
human
Women don't like you, do they, Nick?
gpt
Better cut it out, skipper.
human
Closest thing to being a mother--is that it?
gpt
Or maybe you just want to play God.
human
I'm going to make it tough for you, said Paresi between his teeth.
gpt
There are several ways you can break, just as there are several ways to break a log--explode it, crush it, saw it, burn it.... One of the ways is to fight me until you win. Me, because there's no one else left to fight you. So--I won't fight with you. And you're too rational to attack me unless I do. _That_ is the thing that will make it tough. If you must break, it'll have to be some other way.
human
Is that what I'm doing? the Captain asked with sudden mildness.
gpt
I didn't know that. I thought I was trying to get your own case history out of you, that's all. What are you staring at?
human
Nothing.