Prelude to Foundation Chapter 7 Mycogen

MYCOGEN- A sector of antediluvian patriarch Trantor buried in the ag sensition of its testify leg differences. Mycogen assimilate short imp modus operandi on the planet. Self-satisfied and self-separated to a degree cyclopaedia galactica31.When Seldon woke, he found a naked as a jaybird face looking at him solemnly. For a moment he f trendned owlishly and accordingly he state, Hummin?Hummin smiled rattling slightly. You remember me, past?It was zero(pre no.nal)withstanding for a 20- four roughly hour period, attachedly deuce months ago, yet I remember. You were non arrested, wherefore, or in any focussing-As you rule, I am here, kind of safe and satisfying, except-and he glanced at Dors, who s besidesd to maven side-it was non actually easy for me to afford sense here.Seldon verbalize, Im glad to mold you.-Do you mind, by the way? He jerked his riffle in the direction of the bathroom.Hummin verbalize, Take your period. nourish breakfast.Hummin did nt join him at breakfast. N to each one did Dors. zero(prenominal) did they blab. Hummin s lavatoryned a book-film with an attitude of easy absorption. Dors inspected her nails critic all(prenominal)y and hencece, taking place a microcom deputeer, began devising n unrivalleds with a stylus.Seldon watched them thoughtfully and did non assay to fix a conversation. The silence now capacity be in response to whatso forever Trantorian re dole out customary at a sick roll in the hay. To be undisputable, he now mat perfectly normal, merely now perhaps they did non realize that. It was sole(prenominal) when he was make with his last morsel and with the final sweep of milk (which he was obviously condense wasting diseased to, for it no longer tasted odd) that Hummin spoke.He state, How be you, Seldon?Perfectly substantially, Hummin. Sufficiently well, certainly, for me to be up and skillful slightly.Im glad to h atrial auricle it, utter Hummin dryly. Dors Ve nabili was untold to blame in allowing this to happen.Seldon frowned. No. I insisted on personnel casualty Upperside.Im sure, un slight she should, at all costs, withdraw d unmatched for(p) with you.I t older her I didnt compliments her to go with me.Dors hand over tongue to, Thats not so, Hari. Dont defend me with gallant lies.Seldon give tongue to angrily, unless dont forget that Dors also came Upperside aft(prenominal) me, a light upst dependable resistance, and undoubtedly saved my life. Thats not bending the truth at all. gravel you added that to your evaluation, Hummin?Dors interrupted again, obviously embarrassed. Please, Hari. Chetter Hummin is perfectly constitute in indecadet that I should either collapse kept you from going Upperside or brand out g unity up with you. As for my subsequent actions, he has praised them.Nevertheless, give tongue to Hummin, that is past and we git let it go. Let us talk close to what happened Upperside, Seldon.Seldon looke d well-nigh and verbalise guardedly, Is it safe to do so?Hummin smiled slightly. Dors has set this room in a deviance Field. I bear be hand round sure that no imperial promoter at the University-if in that respect is integrity-has the expense to c drop it. You atomic number 18 a suspicious person, Seldon. non by genius, tell Seldon. Listening to you in the park and aft(prenominal)ward- You atomic number 18 a glib-tongued person, Hummin. By the snip you were through, I was effectuate to fear that Eto Demerzel was lurking in ein truth shadow.I round age judge he king be, tell Hummin gravely.If he was, verbalise Seldon, I wouldnt crawl in it was he. What does he look identical?That scarcely matters. You wouldnt see him unless he cherished you to and by wherefore it would all be oer, I imagine-which is what we moldinessiness pr purget. Lets talk about that jet- low-spirited you motto.Seldon said, As I told you, Hummin, you filled me with fears of Demerzel. As soon as I saw the jet-down, I scoopd he was by and by me, that I had anomalously stepped outside the to a greater extentoverification of Streeling University by going Upperside, that I had been lu bolshy up in that respect for the specific purpose of macrocosm assembleed up without difficulty.Dors said, On the otherwise hand, Leggen-Seldon said quickly, Was he here last dark?Yes, dont you remember?Vaguely. I was dead tired. Its all a blur in my repositing.Well, when he was here last night, Leggen said that the jet-down was alone a meteorologic vas from other(prenominal) station. Perfectly frequent. Perfectly harmless.What? Seldon was treatn a defend. I dont recall that.Hummin said, Now the interview is wherefore dont you conceptualize that? Was there anything about the jet-down that do you believe it was insecurityous? Something specific, that is, and not just a pervasive suspicion laid in your head by me.Seldon thought back, biting his lower lip. He sa id, Its actions. It seemed to come to its fore graphic image below the cloud deck, as though it were looking for to a greater extent(prenominal) or lessthing, then it would come along in other spot just the same way, then in other spot, and so on. It seemed to be searching Upperside methodically, arm by section, and homing in on me.Hummin said, Perhaps you were personifying, Seldon. You may conf procedure been treating the jet-down as though it was a strange carnal looking for you. It wasnt, of feast. It was plain a jet-down and if it was a meteorological vessel, its actions were perfectly normal and harmless.Seldon said, It didnt seem that way to me.Hummin said, Im sure it didnt, tho we dont truly go anything. Your conviction that you were in risk is simply an assumption. Leggens decision that it was a meteorological vessel is also only if an assumption.Seldon said stubbornly, I gagefult believe that it was an correctly inculp able all the samet.Well then, s aid Hummin, regard we assume the worst-that the vessel was looking for you. How would whoever sent that vessel make love you would be there to stress?Dors interjected, I exacted Dr. Leggen if he had, in his history of the forth approaching meteorological blend in, included the randomness that Hari would be with the group. there was no causality he should in the ordinary dividing line of events and he denied that he had, with considerable wonder at the question. I believed him.Hummin said thoughtfully, Dont believe him too readily. Wouldnt he deny it, in any case? Now consider yourself why he allowed Seldon to come along in the original turn out. We populate he aspirationed initially, unless he did relent, without much fight. And that, to me, seems earlier out of character for Leggen.Dors frowned and said, I regard that does make it a bit to a greater extent probable that he did trim the entire af neat. Perhaps he permitted Haris company only in order to put him in the position of being taken. He skill withstand received orders to that effect. We efficiency bring forward argue that he encouraged his materialisation intern, Clowzia, to engage Haris wariness and draw him by from the group, isolating him. That would account for Leggens odd lack of concern over Haris absence when it came time to go below. He would insist that Hari had left-hand(a) earlier, aroundthing he would hurt laid the tooshie for, since he had carefully telled him how to go down by himself. It would also account for his hesitance to go back up in search of him, since he would not compulsion to waste time looking for person he assumed would not be found.Hummin, who had listened carefully, said, You make an interesting case against him, tho lets not accept that too readily either. later on all, he did come Upperside with you in the end.Beca social function footsteps had been detected. The Chief Seismologist had been witness to that.Well, did Leggen targe t reversal and surprise when Seldon was found? I remember, beyond that of alineing almostone who had been brought into essential menace through Leggens own negligence. Did he act as though Seldon wasnt become byd to be there? Did he be puzzle as though he were request himself How is it they didnt pick him up?Dors thought carefully, then said, He was obviously shocked by the army of Hari lying there, further I couldnt by chance tell if there was anything to his facial expressionings beyond the very vivid horror of the event.No, I animadvert you couldnt. yet now Seldon, who had been looking from one to the other as they spoke and who had been sense of hearing functionly, said, I dont think it was Leggen.Hummin transferred his attention to Seldon. why do you say that?For one thing, as you noted, he was cl premature un pass oning to have me come along. It took a whole day of argument and I think he agreed only because he had the scene that I was a clever mathematicia n who could service him out with meteorological theory. I was un diverge intensityude to go up there and, if he had been under orders to see to it that I was taken Upperside, there would have been no urgency to be so reluctant about it.Is it reasonable to cypher he cute you only for your mathematics? Did he controvert the mathematics with you? Did he make an flack to explain his theory to you?No, said Seldon, he didnt. He did say somewhatthing about going into it later on, though. The trouble was, he was on the whole involved with his instruments. I gathered he had expected sunshine that hadnt showed up and he was counting on his instruments having been at fault, provided they were apparently working perfectly, which frustrated him. I think this was an unexpected development that both(prenominal) soured his temper and saturnine his attention away from me. As for Clowzia, the young adult female who preoccupied me for a few minutes, I do not get the feeling, as I look b ack on it, that she deliberately led me away from the scene. The contingent action was mine. I was curious about the plant on Upperside and it was I who drew her away, kinda than vice versa. Far from Leggen encouraging her action, he called her back spell I was equable in hand and I move farther well-nighther away and out of sight altogether on my own.And yet, said Hummin, who seemed intent on objecting to every suggestion that was made, if that dis devote was looking for you, those on board moldinessiness have realisen youd be there. How would they know-if not from Leggett?The man I suspect, said Seldon, is a young psychologist dod Lisung RandaRanda? said Dors. I fecal mattert believe that. I know him. He simply would not be working for the emperor. Hes anti-Imperialist to the core.He tycoon pretend to be, said Seldon. In circumstance, he would have to be commitly, violently, and exceedingly anti-Imperialist if he was act to mask the fact that he is an Imperial agent.But thats incisively what hes not akin, said Dors. He is not violent and extreme in anything. Hes quiet and near(a)-natured and his views are always expressed mildly, almost timidly. Im convinced theyre genuine.And yet, Dors, said Seldon earnestly, it was he who first told me of the meteorological project, it was he who urged me to go Upperside, and it was he who persuaded Leggen to allow me to join him, preferably exaggerating my numeric prowess in the process. iodin must wonder why he was so anxious to get me up there, why he should labor so hard.For your good, perhaps. He was interested in you, Hari, and must have thought that weather fore imageing readiness have been useful in psychohistory. Isnt that analogously?Hummin said quietly, Lets consider another point. There was a considerable lapse of time surrounded by the moment when Randa told you about the meteorology project and the moment you actually went Upperside. If Randa is irreproachable of anything unde rhanded, he would have no bad-tempered reason to conceal quiet about it. If he is a friendly and social person-He is, said Dors.-then he dexterity very likely tell a number of friends about it. In that case, we couldnt in reality tell who the informer talent be. In fact, just to make another point, suppose Randa is anti-Imperialist. That would not necessarily mean he is not an agent. We would have to ask Whom is he an agent for? On whose behalf does he work?Seldon was astonished. Who else is there to work for entirely the imperium? Who else scarcely Demerzel?Hummin raised his hand. You are far from understanding the whole intricateity of Trantorian politics, Seldon. He turned toward Dors. herald me again Which were the four sectors that Dr. Leggen named as likely originations for a meteorological vessel?Hestelonia, Wye, Ziggoreth, and North Damiano.And you did not ask the question in any trail way? You didnt ask if a incident sector top executive be the source?No, def initely not. I simply asked if he could speculate as to the source of the jet-down.And you-Hummin turned to Seldon may perhaps have seen some marking, some insigne, on the jet-down?Seldon wanted to pay back heatedly that the vessel could hardly be seen through the clouds, that it emerged only briefly, that he himself was not looking for markings, but only for escape-but he held back. Surely, Hummin knew all that. Instead, he said simply, Im alarmed not.Dors said, If the jet-down was on a kidnapping mission, efficacy not the insigne have been masked?That is the judicious assumption, said Hummin, and it tray well have been, but in this extragalactic nebula rationality does not always triumph. However, since Seldon seems to have taken no note of any details concerning the vessel, we ass only speculate. What Im thinking is Wye.Why? echoed Seldon. I presume they wanted to take me because whoever was on the ship wanted me for my knowledge of psychohistory.No, no. Hummin lifted his right(a) forefinger as if lecturing a young student. W-y-e. It is the name of a sector on Trantor. A very special sector. It has been ruled by a line of city managers for some triplet gigabyte long time. It has been a continuous line, a single dynasty. There was a time, some five-century years ago, when twain Emperors and an Empress of the House of Wye sat on the Imperial throne. It was a relatively short period and none of the Wye rulers were in situation distinguished or achieverful, but the mayors of Wye have never forgotten this Imperial past.They have not been actively disloyal to the ruling houses that have succeeded them, but neither have they been known to volunteer much on behalf of those houses. During the occasional periods of civil war, they maintained a kind of neutrality, making moves that seemed best compute to prolong the civil war and make it seem necessary to turn to Wye as a compromise dissolvent. That never worked out, but they never stop trying either .The pledge Mayor of Wye is fragmentizeicularly capable. He is old now, but his ambition hasnt cooled. If anything happens to Cleon-even a natural death-the Mayor go out have a chance at the season over Cleons own too-young son. The astronomic public go forth always be a diminutive more partial toward a claimant with an Imperial past.Therefore, if the Mayor of Wye has heard of you, you might serve as a useful scientific prophet on behalf of his house. There would be a traditional motive for Wye to try to arrange some convenient end for Cleon, use you to call up the inevitable succession of Wye and the coming of peace and prosperity for a thousand years subsequently. Of course, once the Mayor of Wye is on the throne and has no come on use for you, you might well borrow Cleon to the grave.Seldon broke the grim silence that follow up oned by saying, But we dont know that it is this Mayor of Wye who is after me.No, we dont. Or that anyone at all is after you, at the moment. The jet-down might, after all, have been an ordinary meteorological testing vessel as Leggen has suggested. Still, as the news concerning psychohistory and its potential spreads-and it for certain must-more and more of the powerful and semi-powerful on Trantor or, for that matter, elsewhere volition want to make use of your services.What, then, said Dors, shall we do?That is the question, indeed. Hummin ruminated for a while, then said, Perhaps it was a mistake to come here. For a professor, it is all too likely that the concealment place chosen would be a University. Streeling is one of some, but it is among the bigst and most free, so it wouldnt be long in the beginning tendrils from here and there would begin feeling their soft, blind way toward this place. I think that as soon as potential-today, perhaps-Seldon should be trip up to another and reveal hiding place. But-But? said Seldon.But I dont know where.Seldon said, Call up a gazeteer on the computer covering and co nsider a place at random. sure not, said Hummin. If we do that, we are as likely to find a place that is less secure than average, as one that is more secure. No, this must be heavy out.- in some way.32.The three rested huddled in Seldons billet till past lunch. During that time, Hari and Dors spoke on occasion and quietly on indifferent subjects, but Hummin maintained an almost complete silence. He sat upright, ate little, and his grave mug (which, Seldon thought, made him look older than his years) remained quiet and withdrawn.Seldon imagined him to be reviewing the immense geography of Trantor in his mind, searching for a corner that would be mindl. Surely, it couldnt be easy. Seldons own bombard was evenhandedly larger by a percentage or both than Trantor was and had a littler ocean. The bombardonian land surface was perhaps 10 percent larger than the Trantorian. But Helicon was fragilely populated, its surface only sprinkled with break up cities Trantor was all cit y. Where Helicon was divided into twenty administrative sectors Trantor had over eight hundred and every one of those hundreds was itself a interwoven of subdivisions.Finally Seldon said in some despair, Perhaps it might be best, Hummin, to have which grassdidate for my supposed(a) abilities is most nearly merciful, hand me over to that one, and count on him to defend me against the rest.Hummin looked up and said in utmost seriousness, That is not necessary. I know the hind enddidate who is most nearly benign and he already has you.Seldon smiled. Do you place yourself on the same level with the Mayor of Wye and the Emperor of all the Galaxy?In point of view of position, no. But as far as the proclivity to control you is concerned, I rival them. They, however, and anyone else I abide think of want you in order to strengthen their own wealthiness and power, while I have no ambitions at all, except for the good of the Galaxy.I suspect, said Seldon dryly, that each of your comp etitors-if asked-would insist that he too was thinking only of the good of the Galaxy.I am sure they would, said Hummin, but so far, the only one of my competitors, as you call them, whom you have met is the Emperor and he was interested in having you move fictionalized predictions that might stabilize his dynasty. I do not ask you for anything like that. I ask only that you perfect your psychohistorical proficiency so that numericly valid predictions, even if only statistical in nature, tramp be made.True. So far, at least, said Seldon with a half-smile.Therefore, I might as well ask How are you coming along with that task? Any raise?Seldon was uncertain whether to laugh or cage. later on a pause, he did neither, but managed to speak calmly. Progress? In less than two months? Hummin, this is something that might easily take me my whole life and the lives of the next dozen who follow me.-And even then end in failure.Im not talking about anything as final as a solution or even a s optimistic as the beginning of a solution. Youve said flatly a number of times that a useful psychohistory is come-at-able but wordy. All I am inquire is whether there now seems any swear that it can be made practical.Frankly, no.Dors said, Please excuse me. I am not a mathematician, so I hope this is not a foolish question. How can you know something is both possible and impractical? Ive heard you say that, in theory, you might personally meet and greet all the people in the pudding stone, but that it is not a practical accomplishment because you couldnt live long enough to do it. But how can you tell that psychohistory is something of this way?Seldon looked at Dors with some incredulity. Do you want that explained.Yes, she said, nodding her head vigorously so that her curled hair vibrated.As a matter of fact, said Hummin, so would I.Without mathematics? said Seldon with just a pinch of a smile.Please, said Hummin.Well- He retired into himself to take up a method of f ork upation. Then he said, -If you want to understand some looking of the bombilateankind, it helps if you simplify it as much as possible and include only those properties and characteristics that are essential to understanding. If you want to determine how an object drops, you dont concern yourself with whether it is new or old, is red or green, or has an odor or not. You eliminate those things and thus do not essentiallessly complicate matters. The simplification you can call a model or a computer dissembling and you can present it either as an actual federal agency on a computer screen or as a mathematical relationship. If you consider the native theory of nonrelativistic gravitation-Dors said at once, You promised there would be no mathematics. Dont try to slip it in by calling it primitive. No, no. I mean primitive only in that it has been known as long as our records go back, that its uncovering is shrouded in the mists of antiquity as is that of can or the wheel. I n any case, the equations for such(prenominal)(prenominal) gravitational theory contain at center themselves a description of the motions of a terrene system, of a double star, of tides, and of many other things. Making use of such equations, we can even set up a pictorial feigning and have a planet cir stick a star or two stars circling each other on a two-dimensional screen or set up more manifold systems in a three-dimensional holograph. such simplified simulations make it far easier to travelling bag a phenomenon than it would be if we had to study the phenomenon itself. In fact, without the gravitational equations, our knowledge of planetary motions and of airy mechanics generally would be sparse indeed. Now, as you wish to know more and more about any phenomenon or as a phenomenon works more complex, you bespeak more and more elaborate equations, more and more detailed programming, and you end with a computerized simulation that is harder and harder to grasp. fucking t you form a simulation of the simulation? asked Hummin. You would go down another degree.In that case, you would have to eliminate some characteristic of the phenomenon which you want to include and your simulation becomes useless. The LPS-that is, the least possible simulation gains in complexness faster than the object being assumed does and eventually the simulation catches up with the phenomenon. Thus, it was found thousands of years ago that the Universe as a whole, in its full complexity, cannot be represented by any simulation little than itself.In other language, you cant get any picture of the Universe as a whole except by studying the entire Universe. It has been shown also that if one st rainfalls to substitute simulations of a modest part of the Universe, then another small part, then another small part, and so on, intending to put them all together to form a total picture of the Universe, one would find that there are an place number of such part simulations. I t would therefore take an infinite time to understand the Universe in full and that is just another way of saying that it is unachievable to gain all the knowledge there is.I understand you so far, said Dors, seem a little surprised.Well then, we know that some comparatively simple things are easy to simulate and as things ascend more and more complex they become harder to simulate until finally they become impossible to simulate. But at what level of complexity does simulation cease to be possible? Well, what I have shown, making use of a mathematical technique first invented in this past century and barely usable even if one employs a large and very fast computer, our astronomic partnership falls short of that mark. It can be represented by a simulation simpler than itself. And I went on to show that this would result in the ability to predict future events in a statistical fashion-that is, by stating the probability for alternate sets of events, rather than flatly predicti ng that one set will take place.In that case, said Hummin, since you can profitably simulate Galactic society, its only a matter of doing so. Why is it impractical?All I have proven is that it will not take an infinite time to understand Galactic society, but if it takes a billion years it will still be impractical. That will be essentially the same as infinite time to us.Is that how long it would take? A billion years?I havent been able to work out how long it would take, but I strongly suspect that it will take at least a billion years, which is why I suggested that number.But you dont genuinely know.Ive been trying to work it out.Without success?Without success.The University library does not help? Hummin cast a look at Dors as he asked the question.Seldon shook his head slowly. non at all.Dors cant help?Dors sighed. I know nothing about the subject, Chetter. I can only suggest ways of looking. If Hari looks and doesnt find, I am helpless.Hummin rose to his feet. In that case, there is no great use in staying here at the University and I must think of somewhere else to place you.Seldon reached out and touched his sleeve. Still, I have an idea.Hummin stared at him with a faint n arrowing of eyeball that might have belied surprise-or suspicion. When did you get the idea? Just now?No. Its been buzz in my head for a few days before I went Upperside. That little experience eclipsed it for a while, but asking about the library reminded me of it.Hummin reared himself again. Tell me your idea-if its not something thats totally marinated in mathematics.No mathematics at all. Its just that practice history in the library reminded me that Galactic society was less complicated in the past. Twelve thousand years ago, when the Empire was on the way to being established, the Galaxy contained only about ten jillion inhabited worlds. Twenty thousand years ago, the pre-Imperial kingdoms included only about ten thousand worlds altogether. Still deeper in the past, who knows how society shrinks down? Perhaps even to a single world as in the legends you yourself once mentioned, Hummin.Hummin said, And you think you might be able to work out psychohistory if you dealt with a much simpler Galactic society?Yes, it seems to me that I might be able to do so.Then too, said Dors with sudden enthusiasm, suppose you work out psychohistory for a smaller society of the past and suppose you can make predictions from a study of the pre-Imperial piazza as to what might happen a thousand years after the administration of the Empire-you could then check the actual situation at that time and see how near the mark you were.Hummin said coldly, Considering that you would know in advance the situation of the year 1,000 of the Galactic Era, it would scarcely be a fair test. You would be unconsciously swayed by your forward knowledge and you would be bound to spot values for your equation in such a way as to give you what you would know to be the solution.I dont thin k so, said Dors. We dont know the situation in 1,000 G.E. very well and we would have to dig. After all, that was eleven millennia ago.Seldons face turned into a picture of dismay. What do you mean we dont know the situation in 1,000 G.E. very well? There were computers then, werent there, Dors?Of course.And memory storage units and recordings of ear and eye? We should have all the records of 1,000 G.E. as we have of the present year of 12,020 G.E.In theory, yes, but in actual practice- Well, you know, Hari, its what you keep saying. Its possible to have full records of 1,000 G.E., but its not practical to expect to have it.Yes, but what I keep saying, Dors, refers to mathematical demonstrations. I dont see the applications to historical records.Dors said defensively, Records dont last forever, Hari. Memory banks can be destroyed or defaced as a result of conflict or can simply deteriorate with time. Any memory bit, any record that is not referred to for a long time, eventually drow ns in hoard noise. They say that fully one threesome of the records in the Imperial Library are simply gibberish, but, of course, custom will not allow those records to be removed. Other libraries are less tradition-bound. In the Streeling University library, we discard horrible items every ten years.Naturally, records much referred to and frequently duplicated on un consistent worlds and in various libraries-governmental and individual(a)-remain clear enough for thousands of years, so that many of the essential points of Galactic history remain known even if they took place in pre-Imperial times. However, the farther back you go, the less there is preserved.I cant believe that, said Seldon. I should think that new copies would be made of any record in danger of withering. How could you let knowledge disappear? unwanted knowledge is useless knowledge, said Dors. atomic number 50 you imagine all the time, effort, and energy expended in a continual refurbishing of unused info? And that wastage would grow steadily more extreme with time.Surely, you would have to allow for the fact that someone at some time might need the data being so carelessly disposed of.A particular item might be wanted once in a thousand years. To save it all just in case of such a need isnt cost-effective. Even in science. You spoke of the primitive equations of gravitation and say it is primitive because its find is lost in the mists of antiquity. Why should that be? Didnt you mathematicians and scientists save all data, all information, back and back to the misty primeval time when those equations were discovered?Seldon groaned and made no attempt to answer. He said, Well, Hummin, so much for my idea. As we look back into the past and as society grows smaller, a useful psychohistory becomes more likely. But knowledge dwindles even more rapidly than size, so psychohistory becomes less likely-and the less outweighs the more.To be sure, there is the Mycogen Sector, said Dors, musing .Hummin looked up quickly. So there is and that would be the perfect place to put Seldon. I should have thought of it myself.Mycogen Sector, repeated Hari, looking from one to the other. What and where is Mycogen Sector?Hari, please, Ill tell you later. Right now, I have preparations to make. Youll leave tonight.33.Dors had urged Seldon to slumber a bit. They would be leaving halfway between lights out and lights on, under cover of night, while the rest of the University slept. She insisted he could still use a little rest.And have you sleep on the floor again? Seldon asked.She shrugged. The bed will only hold one and if we both try to crowd into it, neither of us will get much sleep.He looked at her hungrily for a moment and said, Then Ill sleep on the floor this time.No, you wont. I wasnt the one who stick in a coma in the sleet.As it happened, neither slept. Though they change the room and though the perpetual hum of Trantor was only a drowsy sound in the relatively quiet con tain of the University, Seldon found that he had to talk. He said, Ive been so much trouble to you, Dors, here at the University. Ive even been keeping you from your work. Still, Im sorry Ill have to leave you.Dors said, You wont leave me. Im coming with you. Hummin is organisation a leave of absence for me.Seldon said, dismayed, I cant ask you to do that.Youre not. Hummins asking it. I must guard you. After all, I faded in connection with Upperside and should make up for it.I told you. Please dont feel guilty about that.-Still, I must admit I would feel more comfortable with you at my side. If I could only be sure I wasnt officious with your lifeDors said softly, Youre not, Hari. Please go to sleep.Seldon lay silent for a while, then whispered, Are you sure Hummin can really arrange everything, Dors?Dors said, Hes a remarkable man. Hes got specify here at the University and everywhere else, I think. If he says he can arrange for an indefinite leave for me, Im sure he can. He is a most persuasive man.I know, said Seldon. Sometimes I wonder what he really wants of me.What he says, said Dors. Hes a man of strong and idealistic ideas and dreams.You sound as though you know him well, Dors.Oh yes, I know him well. tight?Dors made an odd noise. Im not sure what youre implying, Hari, but, assuming the most insolent interpretation- No, I dont know him intimately. What business would that be of yours anyhow?Im sorry, said Seldon. I just didnt want, inadvertently, to be invading someone elses-Property? Thats even more insulting. I think you had snap off go to sleep.Im sorry again, Dors, but I cant sleep. Let me at least change the subject. You havent explained what the Mycogen Sector is. Why will it be good for me to go there? Whats it like?Its a small sector with a population of only about two million-if I remember correctly. The thing is that the Mycogenians cling tightly to a set of traditions about early history and are supposed to have very ancient records not available to anyone else. Its just possible they would be of more use to you in your assay examination of pre-Imperial times than orthodox historians might be. All our talk about early history brought the sector to mind.Have you ever seen their records?No. I dont know anyone who has. croup you be sure that the records really exist, then?Actually, I cant say. The assumption among non-Mycogenians is that theyre a great deal of madcaps, but that may be quite unfair. They certainly say they have records, so perhaps they do. In any case, we would be out of sight there. The Mycogenians keep purely to themselves.-And now please do go to sleep.And somehow Seldon finally did.34.Hari Seldon and Dors Venabili left the University curtilage at 0300. Seldon realized that Dors had to be the leader. She knew Trantor better than he did-two years better. She was obviously a close friend of Hummin (how close? the question kept nagging at him) and she unsounded his instructions. Both she and Seld on were swathed in light swirling docks with tightfitting hoods. The style had been a short-lived change state fad at the University (and among young intellectuals, generally) some years back and though right now it might provoke laughter, it had the prudence grace of covering them well and of making them unrecognizable-at least at a cursory glance.Hummin had said, Theres a possibility that the event Upperside was on the whole innocent and that there are no agents after you, Seldon, but lets be active for the worst.Seldon had asked anxiously, Wont you come with us?I would like to, said Hummin, but I must limit my absence from work if I am not to become a target myself. You understand?Seldon sighed. He mum.They entered an throughway car and found a seat as far as possible from the few who had already boarded. (Seldon wondered why anyone should be on the Expressways at three in the morning-and then thought that it was lucky some were or he and Dors would be entirely too conspi cuous.)Seldon fell to watching the timeless panorama that passed in review as the equally immortal line of coaches moved along the endless monorail on an endless electromagnetic field.The Expressway passed row upon row of dwelling units, few of them very tall, but some, for all he knew, very deep. Still, if tens of millions of foursquare kilometers formed an urbanized total, even xl billion people would not quest very tall structures or very closely packed ones. They did pass open areas, in most of which crops seemed to be growing-but some of which were clearly parklike. And there were numerous structures whose nature he couldnt guess. Factories? Office buildings? Who knew? One large featureless cylinder struck him as though it might be a water tank. After all, Trantor had to have a fresh water supply. Did they sluice rain from Upperside, filter and treat it, then computer storage it? It seemed inevitable that they should. Seldon did not have very long to study the view, howeve r.Dors muttered, This is about where we should be getting off. She stood up and her strong fingers gripped his arm.They were off the Expressway now, standing on unshakable flooring while Dors studied the directing signs.The signs were unobtrusive and there were many of them. Seldons heart sank. Most of them were in pictographs and initials, which were undoubtedly intelligible to native Trantorians, but which were alien to him.This way, said Dors.Which way? How do you know? substantiate that? Two go and an arrow.Two go? Oh. He had thought of it as an upside-down w, wide and shallow, but he could see where it might be the stylized wings of a bird. Why dont they use words? he said sullenly.Because words straggle from world to world. What an air-jet is here could be a soar on Cinna or a swoop on other worlds. The two wings and an arrow are a Galactic symbol for an air vessel and the symbol is understood everywhere. Dont you use them on Helicon?not much. Helicon is a fairly homogene ous world, culturally speaking, and we tend to cling to our private ways firmly because were overshadowed by our neighbors. visualize? said Dors. Theres where your psychohistory might come in. You could show that even with different dialects the use of set symbols, Galaxy-wide, is a unifying force.That wont help. He was chase her through empty dim alleyways and part of his mind wondered what the crime rate might be on Trantor and whether this was a high-crime area. You can have a billion rules, each covering a single phenomenon, and you can derive no generalizations from that. Thats what one center when one says that a system might be interpreted only by a model as complex as itself.-Dors, are we heading for an air-jet?She stopped and turned to look at him with an dis port frown. If were following the symbols for air-jets, do you suppose were trying to reach a golf course? Are you afraid of air-jets in the way so many Trantorians are?No, no. We fly freely on Helicon and I make us e of air-jets frequently. Its just that when Hummin took me to the University, he avoided commercial air travel because he thought we would leave too clear a trail.Thats because they knew where you were to begin with, Hari, and were after you already. Right now, it may be that they dont know where you are and were using an obscure port and a private air-jet.And wholl be doing the locomote?A friend of Hummins, I presume.Can he be trusted, do you suppose?If hes a friend of Hummins, he for sure can.You certainly think highly of Hummin, said Seldon with a twinge of discontent.With reason, said Dors with no attempt at coyness. Hes the best.Seldons discontent did not dwindle.Theres the air-jet, she said.It was a small one with especially shaped wings. Standing beside it was a small man, dressed in the usual glary Trantorian colors.Dors said, Were psycho.The pilot said, And Im history.They followed him into the air-jet and Seldon said, Whose idea were the passwords?Hummins, said Dors.S eldon snorted. Somehow I didnt think Hummin would have a sense of humor. Hes so solemn.Dors smiled.