human
Where'd you get this, MacReedy?
gpt
I didn't _get_ it anywhere; it just seems like the logical next step in ordnance, General. I've had pretty good luck in the past, figuring things out this way. I had the Sherman tank plotted back in nineteen-forty--just before I was drafted. I hadn't dared trust my hunches till I saw my first one two years later at Pine Camp.
human
You were in the Army?
gpt
Six years, said MacReedy.
human
Two years here in camp and Officer's Candidate School, then two abroad--Sicily, Anzio and the Rhone Valley. I stopped a piece of shell near Lyon, and put in the rest of my time in hospital.
gpt
Rough, said the General though he had neither the time nor the interest for sympathy.
human
Tell me how you 'figure' these things out. The Sherman tank, if you wish.
gpt
It wasn't too difficult, once I'd seen the General Grant. That one obviously wouldn't do; it was too high, needed a full-pivot turret. Yet the basic design was there--anyone who'd thought about it could have done the same. But it was a pleasant shock to learn I'd been right.
human
I see, said the General.
gpt
And you did the others by the same process--and you're always right?
human
Not always, replied MacReedy.
gpt
I fluffed badly on the atomic cannon. I expected a longer barrel for greater muzzle-velocity and range; here, I'll show you.