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upstream. They awaited his return impatiently.
"What do you think of it?" the second physician asked.
"Quite intelligent and well intentioned." Library and physician spoke by
means of communications tendrils so that their conversation would remain
private. "Physically repellent. One would think it impossible for such a
fragile lifeform to have achieved so much. I am fascinated by its dependence
on artificial devices. It seems unaware of the inadequacies of its own body
and how this in turn has affected its mental condition."
"Actually I am surprised at the degree of adaptability it has
demonstrated." The physician was methodically cleaning several of its delicate
extremities, a never-ending procedure. It was a matter of efficiency, not
sanitation. Silicon is not subject to infection.
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"Evan is more versatile than either of you think," put in Azure, having
joined the discussion. "As he has yet to demonstrate. Look, he's returning,
and he's found something to help him overcome his physical deficiency. Don't
speak of it in his presence. It will upset him. I have found that he is very
sensitive about such things. I suspect it is common among his kind."
"Sensitive about reality?" Clearly the physician had a difficult time
accepting this odd concept.
"We are not dealing with a normal person." Azure hastened to disconnect.
The second physician and the library simultaneously withdrew.
"I see what you intend," Azure said quickly to his friend.
"This ought to do the trick." Evan displayed the discarded exoskeleton of
some unknown organosilicate. It consisted of a series of interconnected
transparent ovoids which had washed up in a small cove. He'd tied several of
them together with fibers taken from a willowy growth that grew from the
riverbank.
First he placed his chest against the center of the bundle and practiced
drifting in shallow water. When it became clear the ovoid structure would
support him easily, he turned and pushed himself out into the river. He was
inordinately pleased to find that kicking his legs did indeed propel him
forward.
"About time," one of the warriors grumbled.
Evan not only could talk to his friends as they started across the river
bottom; he could see them easily through the clear water. They marched forward
beneath him, warriors surrounding the others save for Azure, who, as always,
was out in front.
"Everything okay?" he thought at his friend.
"The bottom is a little soft. It is good that the water is so clear."
"So that you can see your way across?"
"No. So that we can still receive the sunlife."
All the advantages were not with his friends, then. Dark waters would not
have troubled him at all-if he'd had gills.
We complement one another, he thought. Friends. And for how long? Age was
a topic not yet touched upon. Did their internal components wear out like
those of any living creature, or were they infinitely replaceable via the
skills of the physicians? There was still the matter of memory retention, but
he had no idea how long a silicate brain could function without degenerating.
It hit him suddenly that Azure, the library, the physicians, and the
other senior members of the Associative might be thousands of years old.
Unlikely, yes. Impossible, no. What if they did live two or three hundred
years, though? What might happen if such intelligent, adaptable beings were
given access to advanced technology? There was no telling what they might
accomplish. If they could grow a mind-to-mind communications device using
nothing more than their own specialized bodies, what else could they produce
if given the right patterns? Could they grow a computer?
Evan saw that the introduction of Commonwealth technology to Prism was
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going to have to be carried out under the strictest supervision. Companionable
but cautious would have to be the company's byword.
Meanwhile there was still more than half a river to cross and he'd best
concentrate on his kicking or there'd be no exciting future to contemplate. It
was quite a boost to his ego to know that he was actually driving himself
across the water under his own power instead of having to rely on a suit
motor. His leg muscles were doing all the work, muscles which would have been
incapable of providing the exertion demanded when he'd first set down on this
world but which had subsequently been strengthened beyond belief by days of
strenuous hiking.
There was no need for the citizens of Samstead to exercise. Why waste
time in expending calories on such primitive activities when there were few
enough waking hours in the, day to utilize the resources of one's mind?
Anything you wanted to do, any variety of outdoor activity, was available
without having to waste time on such absurdities. There were suits specialized
for flying, for diving, for mountain-climbing and long-distance running.
Exercise was for the feeble-minded.
No doubt that lack of physical conditioning had contributed to the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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