human
To explain it I must tell you the history of a gross and a half of years,
gpt
The thing is this, said Graham.
human
You are afraid of something I shall do. In some way I am arbitrator--I might be arbitrator.
gpt
It is not that. But you have--I may tell you this much--the automatic increase of your property puts great possibilities of interference in your hands. And in certain other ways you have influence, with your eighteenth century notions.
human
Nineteenth century,
gpt
With your old world notions, anyhow, ignorant as you are of every feature of our State.
human
Am I a fool?
gpt
Certainly not.
human
Do I seem to be the sort of man who would act rashly?
gpt
You were never expected to act at all. No one counted on your awakening. No one dreamt you would ever awake. The Council had surrounded you with antiseptic conditions. As a matter of fact, we thought that you were dead--a mere arrest of decay. And--but it is too complex. We dare not suddenly---while you are still half awake.
human
It won't do, said Graham.
gpt
Suppose it is as you say--why am I not being crammed night and day with facts and warnings and all the wisdom of the time to fit me for my responsibilities? Am I any wiser now than two days ago, if it is two days, when I awoke?
human
I am beginning to feel--every hour I feel more clearly--a system of concealment of which you are the face. Is this Council, or committee, or whatever they are, cooking the accounts of my estate? Is that it?
gpt
That note of suspicion--
human
Ugh! said Graham.
gpt
Now, mark my words, it will be ill for those who have put me here. It will be ill. I am alive. Make no doubt of it, I am alive. Every day my pulse is stronger and my mind clearer and more vigorous. No more quiescence. I am a man come back to life. And I want to _live_--
human
The Council secludes you here for your good. You are restless. Naturally--an energetic man! You find it dull here. But we are anxious that everything you may desire--every desire--every sort of desire ... There may be something. Is there any sort of company?
gpt
Yes, said Graham thoughtfully.
human
There is.
gpt
Ah! _Now_! We have treated you neglectfully.
human
The crowds in yonder streets of yours.
gpt
That, said Howard,
human
I am afraid--But--