human
You, Mr. Bending, are an unusual case. Any rumor concerning your work, no matter how fantastic, is worth looking into on your reputation alone, even though the claims may be utterly absurd.
gpt
I have made no claims,
human
I understand that, Mr. Bending. None the less, others--who may or may not know what they are talking about--have made this claim _for_ you. Olcott settled back in his chair and folded his hands across his slight paunch.
gpt
You've worked with us before, Mr. Bending; you know that we can--and _do_--pay well for advances in the power field which are contributed by our engineers. As you know, our contract is the standard one--any discovery made by an engineer while in our employ is automatically ours. None the less, we give such men a handsome royalty.
human
You, yourself have benefitted by this policy. According to our records, you are drawing royalties from three patented improvements in the stellarator which were discovered at times when you were employed by us--or, rather, by one of our associative corporations--in an advisory capacity. Those discoveries were, by contract, ours. By law, we could use them as we saw fit without recompense to you, other than our regular fee. None the less, we chose to pay you a royalty because that is our normal policy with all our engineers and scientific research men. We find it more expedient to operate thus.
gpt
but he didn't show it.
human
Are you trying to say that my Converter was invented during my employ with your company, Mr. Olcott?
gpt
No. Not necessarily. It is true that we might have a case on those grounds, but, under the circumstances, we feel it inexpedient to pursue such a course.
human
Then just what are you driving at, Mr. Olcott?
gpt
I'll put my cards on the table, Mr. Bending,
human
Go ahead,
gpt
Thank you. He cleared his throat again.
human
If your invention is ... ah ... worth while, we are prepared to negotiate with you for use and/or purchase of it.
gpt
but he had no desire to antagonize the Power Utilities representative by showing personal pique.
human
Let me understand you clearly, he said.
gpt
Power Utilities wants to buy my rights to the Converter. Right?
human
In a word, yes. Provided, of course, that it is actually worth our while. Remember, we know almost nothing about it; the claims made for it by our ... ah ... anonymous informer are ... well, ah ... rather fantastic. But your reputation--
gpt
Do you mean that you came to me to talk about buying an invention you weren't even sure existed--just because of my reputation?
human
Frankly, yes, said Olcott.
gpt
Your reputation is ... ah ... shall we say, a good one in power engineering circles.
human
Are you an engineer?
gpt
Why, no. No, I am not. I'm a lawyer. I thought you understood that.
human
Sorry, Bending said.
gpt
I didn't. Most of the financial work around here is done through my Mr. Luckman. I'm not acquainted with the monetary end of the business.
human
Quite all right. Evidently I am not as well known to you as you are to me. Not that it matters. Why did you ask?
gpt
I'm going to show you something, Mr. Olcott, he said.
human
Would you care to come with me to the lab?
gpt
I'd be glad to, Mr. Bending.
human
Over here,