human
You're not flunking, Luba said.
gpt
You're a very long way from flunking, Kenneth.
human
Malone, we've been keeping tabs on you. Your shield was unbreakable--but we have been able to reach the minds of people you've talked to: Mike Sands, Primo Palveri, and so on. And Her Majesty, of course: you opened up a gap in your shield to talk to her, and you haven't closed it down. Until you started broadcasting here on the way up, naturally.
gpt
All right,
human
I tried to take you off the case, Burris went on,
gpt
He lit his cigar and looked obscurely pleased.
human
But they didn't know how you'd take it, he said.
gpt
They ... we ... felt that a man who hadn't been trained since childhood to accept the extrasensory abilities of the human mind couldn't possibly learn to accept the reality of the job the PRS has to do.
human
I still don't, Malone said.
gpt
I'm stupid. I flunk. Remember?
human
Now, now, Burris said helplessly.
gpt
Not at all, Malone. But we were worried. I lied to you about those three spies--I put the drug in the water-cooler. I tried to keep you from learning the Fueyo method of teleportation. I didn't want you to learn that you were telepathic.
human
But I did, Malone said,
gpt
And what does that make me?
human
That, Sir Lewis cut in,
gpt
I've got some questions, he said after a second.
human
I want to know three things.
gpt
Go ahead,
human
One: Malone said,
gpt
How come Her Majesty and the other nutty telepaths didn't spot you? Two: How come you sent me out on these jobs when you were afraid I was dangerous? And three: What was it that was so safe about busting up civilization? How did that save us from the Last War?
human
First, he said,
gpt
But wrecking the world because of a man with a mind-shield--why not just work things so his underlings wouldn't obey him? Malone shook his head.
human
That sounds more reasonable.
gpt
It may, Sir Lewis said.
human
But it wouldn't work. As a matter of fact, it was tried, and it didn't work. You see, the Sino-Soviet top men were smart enough to see that their underlings were being tampered with. And they've developed a system, partly depending on automatic firing systems, partly on individuals with mind-blocks--that is, people who aren't being tampered with--which we can't disrupt directly. So we had to smash them.
gpt
And the United States at the same time, Burris said.
human
The economic balance had to be kept; a strong America would be forced in to fill the power vacuum otherwise, and that would make for an even worse catastrophe. And if we weren't in trouble, the Sino-Soviet Bloc would blame their mess on us. And that would start the Last War before collapse could get started. Right, Malone?
gpt
I see,