human
Can you imagine anything being so slow, Remm said,
gpt
Suddenly Macker interrupted.
human
Something is wrong. It is trying to get up, but it can't.
gpt
I see what the trouble is, Toolls said.
human
It's unable to lift the appendage with the new bone in. I never thought of that before but its 'light' muscles aren't strong enough to lift the limb. We've got the poor creature pinned to the box by the weight of its own arm.
gpt
We can't do that to it, Remm said.
human
Isn't there any way you can give it a lighter bone?
gpt
None that wouldn't take a retooling of the _converter_, Toolls said.
human
I'm not certain that I could do it, and even if I could, we don't have the time to spare. I could give it stronger muscles in the arm, but that may throw off the metabolism of the whole body. If it did, the result would be fatal. I'd hate to chance it.
gpt
I have an idea, Macker said. By the inflections of his tones the others knew that some incongruity of the situation had aroused Macker's sense of humor.
human
Why don't we give the creature an entirely new body? We could replace the flesh and viscera, as well as the cartilaginous structure, with our own type substance. It would probably be an indestructible being as far as its own world is concerned. And it would be as powerful as their mightiest machines. We'd leave behind us a superman that could change the course of this world's history. You could do it, couldn't you, Toolls?
gpt
Quite simply.
human
Our policy has always been not to interfere in anyway with the races we study,
gpt
But our policy has also been never to harm any of them, if at all possible to avoid it, Macker insisted.
human
In common justice you have to complete the job Toolls began on the arm, or you're condemning this poor thing to death.
gpt
But do we have the right to loose such an unpredictable factor as it would be among them? Remm asked.
human
After all, our purpose is exploration and observation, not playing the parts of gods to the primitives we encounter.
gpt
True, that is the rule which we have always followed in the past, Macker agreed,
human
He turned to Toolls.
gpt
Just what stage of cultural development would you say this creature's race has attained?