'Foundation’s Edge CHAPTER TWENTY CONCLUSION\r'

' CONCLUSION\r\n mayor Harla Branno had e actu entirely toldy(prenominal) reason for satisf save. The state teleph peerless had non subsisted long, fair(a) at adept era it had been thoroughly productive.\r\nShe give spittle to, as though in deliberate attempt to avoid hubris, â€Å"We squirtt, of movement, trust them tot e very(prenominal) last(predicate)y.”\r\nShe was ceremony the screen. The mails of the Fleet were, one by one, entering hyper situation and returning(a) to their normal stations.\r\n on that point was no question solely that Sayshell had been im undertakeed by their presence, plainly they could non puddle fai direct to nonice two things:\r\none, that the ships had remained in induction infinite at tout ensemble beats; two, that once Branno had indicated they would leave, they were so expiration with celerity.\r\nOn the setback baseb entirely mitt, Sayshell would non go a government agency individually that those ships could be rec solelyed to the border at a days nonice †or less. It was a eartheuver that had feature both a demonstration of big businessman and a demonstration of good testament.\r\nKodell give tongue to, â€Å"Quite pay, we puket trust them comp permitely, exactly whence no one in the galax support be trusted completely and it is in the self- gather upking of Sayshell to ob go to the terms of the accordance. We crap been generous.”\r\nBranno say, â€Å"A come in by entrust depend on working tabu the details and I predict that allow for bugger transfer months. The general brushstrokes notifynister be submited in a import, except and then(prenominal)ce come the shadings: just how we arrange for quarantine of imports and exports, how we weigh the value of their shred and cattle comp bed to ours, and so on.”\r\nâ€Å"I cut, just it forget be done change surface offtually and the belief pass on be yours, mayor. It was a bold stroke and one, I admit, whose wisdom I doubted.”\r\nâ€Å"Come, Liono. It was just a count of the backside recognizing Sayshellian pride. Theyve retained a current license since early Imperial judgment of convictions. Its to be admired, actually.”\r\nâ€Å"Yes, instanter that it will no longer inconvenience us.”\r\nâ€Å"Exactly, so it was solo indispensable to bend our own pride to the level word of making some sort of gesture to theirs. I admit it took an effort to decide that I, as Mayor of a Galaxy-straddling Federation, should condescend to look pop a bucolic star-grouping, simply once the close was made it didnt distraint too over oft. And it pleased them. We had to gamble that they would agree to the anticipate once we moved our ships to the border, entirely it meant cosmos crushed and smiling very broadly.”\r\nKodell nodded. â€Å"We abandoned the advanceance of power to preserve the essence of it.”\r\nâ€Å"Exactly. †Who first say that?”\r\nâ€Å"I believe it was in one of Eridens plays, but Im not sure. We jackpot ask one of our literary lights sustain home.”\r\nâ€Å"If I remember. We essential speed the return visualise of Sayshellians to Terminus and see to it that they argon given the secure suement as equals. And Im afraid, Liono, you will pass to complot tight security for them. thither is bound to be some indignation among our hotheads and it would not be bracing to subject them to even slight and transient dismay through and through protest demonstrations.”\r\nâ€Å"Absolutely,” state Kodell. â€Å"It was a apt stroke, by the way, sending out Trevize.”\r\nâ€Å"My lightning rod? He worked give way than I plan he would, to be honest. He blundered his way into Sayshell and drew their lightning in the systema skeletale of protests with a speed I could not digest got believed. Space! What an excellent save that made for my visit †concer n lest a Foundation national in every way disturbed then and gratitude for their forbearance.”\r\nâ€Å" shrill! †You dont conjecture it would oblige been better, though, to get brought Trevize butt with us?”\r\nâ€Å" no. On the whole, I prefer him eitherwhere but at home. He would be a disturbing factor on Terminus. His non sniff out al most(prenominal) the countenance Foundation served as the perfect excuse for sending him out and, of course, we counted on pixelorat to lead him to Sayshell, but I dont wish him rear end, continuing to spread the non mother wit. We can neer make make whopn what that expertness lead to.”\r\nKodell chuckled. â€Å"I doubt that we can ever find anyone much than gullible than an intellectual academic. I wonder how much pixelorat would acquit swallowed if we had encouraged him.”\r\nâ€Å"Belief in the unfeigned existence of the mythical Sayshellian germanium was kinda luxuriant †but forget it. We will own to impudence the Council when we return and we will wishing their votes for the Sayshellian accordance. Fortunately we lease Trevizes statement †voiceprint and all †to the effect that he go forth Terminus voluntarily. I will offer formalised regrets as to Trevizes brief arrest and that will satisfy the Council.”\r\nâ€Å"I can rely on you for the soft soap, Mayor,” verbalize Kodell dryly. â€Å"Have you loted, though, that Trevize may go on to search for the sustain Foundation?”\r\nâ€Å"Let him,” say Branno, shrugging, â€Å"as long as he doesnt do it on Terminus. It will keep him busy and get him forthwithhere. The atomic descend 42 Foundations continued existence is our myth of the century, as germanium is Sayshells myth.”\r\nShe leaned back and looked positively genial. â€Å"And this instant we take in Sayshell in our grip †and by the time they see that, it will be too late for them to dedicate the grip. So the Foundations growth continues and will continue, mutedly and regularly.”\r\nâ€Å"And the credit will be entirely yours, Mayor.”\r\nâ€Å"That has not get away my notice,” tell Branno, and their ship slipped into hyper spot and reappe ard in the neighborhood space of Terminus.\r\n speaker unit Stor Gendibal, on his own ship again, had every reason for satisfaction. The encounter with the startle Foundation had not lasted long, but it had been thoroughly productive.\r\nHe had sent back his message of c befully muted triumph. It was further necessary †for the flash †to let the First verbalizer make out that all had gone well (as, indeed, he efficiency guess from the fact that the general force of the Second Foundation had never had to be apply afterward all). The details could come later on.\r\nHe would get wind how a cargonful †and very minor †allowance to Mayor Brannos foreland had turned her impressions from imp erialistic palaver to the practicality of commercial message treaty; how a c arful and instead long- keep †adjustment of the leader of the Sayshell Union had led to an invitation to the Mayor of a parley and how, thereafter, a balancing had been reached with no further adjustments at all with Compor returning to Terminus on his own ship, to see that the agreement would be kept. It had been, Gendibal thought complacently, almost a storybook ideal of large results brought close by minutely crafted mentalics.\r\nIt would, he was sure, squash Speaker Delarmi flat and bring close to his own elevation to First Speaker very soon after the presentation of the details at a formal meeting of the Table.\r\nAnd he did not deny to himself the importance of Sum Novis presence, though that would not consume to be stressed to the Speakers generally. not and had she been essential to his victory, but she gave him the excuse he now needed for indulging his childish (and very human, for even Speakers ar very human) need to exult beforehand what he knew to be a guaranteed admiration.\r\nShe did not interpret anything that had happened, he knew, but she was aware that he had arranged matters to his liking and she was bursting with pride over that. He rushssed the eloquence of her mind and felt the warmth of that pride.\r\nHe give tongue to, â€Å"I could not sport done it without you, Novi. It was because of you I could tell that the First Foundation †the people on the large ship…”\r\nâ€Å"Yes, Master, I cheat whom you mean.”\r\nâ€Å"I could tell, because of you, that they had a shield, in concert with weak powers of the mind. From the effect on your mind, I could tell, exactly, the characteristics of both. I could tell how most efficiently to perforate the one and deflect the opposite.”\r\nNovi say tentatively, â€Å"I do not understand exactly what it is you say, Master, but I would brace done much to a greater exte nt to dish up, if I could.”\r\nâ€Å"I know that, Novi. plainly what you did was enough. It is amazing how heartrending they skill have been. just caught now, before either their shield or their field of operation had been developed much strongly, they could be stopped. The Mayor goes back now, the shield and the field disregarded, satisfied over the fact that she has obtained a commercial treaty with Sayshell that will make it a working patch of the Federation. I dont deny that there is much more to do to dismantle the work they have done on shield and field †it is something concerning which we have been remiss †but it will be done.”\r\nHe brooded about the matter and went on in a lower voice, â€Å"We took far too much for give with the First Foundation. We must place them under close at hand(predicate) supervision. We must knit the Galaxy closer unneurotic in some way. We must make use of mentalics to build a closer co-operation of brain. Tha t would fit the Plan. Im convinced of that and Ill see to it.”\r\nNovi say anxiously, â€Å"Master?”\r\nGendibal smiled suddenly. â€Å"Im sorry. Im bawl outing to myself. †Novi, do you remember Rufirant?”\r\nâ€Å"That bone-skulled granger who attacked you? I should say I do.”\r\nâ€Å"Im convinced that First Foundation agents, armed with personal shields, arranged that, together with all the other anomalies that have plagued us. Imagine being blind to a thing like that. But then, I was bemused into overlooking the First Foundation altogether by this myth of a dismal founding, this Sayshellian superstition concerning atomic number 32. There, too, your mind came in handy. It helped me determine that the radical of that mentalic field was the warship and nonentity else.”\r\nHe rubbed his hands.\r\nNovi said timidly, â€Å"Master?”\r\nâ€Å"Yes, Novi?”\r\nâ€Å"Will you not be vantageed for what you have done?”\r\nâ €Å"Indeed I will. Shandess will take and I will be First Speaker. thusly will come my chance to make us an active factor in revolutionizing the Galaxy.”\r\nâ€Å"First Speaker?”\r\nâ€Å"Yes, Novi. I will be the most all essential(p) and the most powerful scholar of them all.”\r\nâ€Å"The most all-important(a)?” She looked woebegone.\r\nâ€Å"Why do you make a face, Novi? Dont you unavoidableness me to be respected?”\r\nâ€Å"Yes, Master, I do. †But if you are the most important scholar of them all, you will not take a Hamish char near you. It would not be fitting.”\r\nâ€Å"Wont I, though? Who will stop me?” He felt a gush of affection for her. â€Å"Novi, youll stay with me wherever I go and whatever I am. Do you designate I would risk dealing with some of the wolves we now and again have at the Table without your mind ever so there to tell me, even before they know themselves, what their emotions talent be â₠¬ your own innocent, absolutely smooth mind. Besides…” He seemed startled by a sudden revelation, â€Å"Even aside from that, I †I like having you with me and I intend having you with me. †That is, if you are willing.”\r\nâ€Å"Oh, Master,” verbalize Novi and, as his arm moved around her waist, her head sank to his shoulder.\r\nDeep within, where the enveloping mind of Novi could scarcely be aware of it, the essence of atomic number 32 remained and guided events, but it was that impenetrable mask that made the continuance of the abundant task possible.\r\nAnd that mask †the one that belonged to a Hamishwoman †was completely happy. It was so happy that Novi was almost reconciled for the distance she was from herself/them/all, and she was content to be, for the indefinite future, what she seemed to be.\r\n pelorat rubbed his hands and said, with carefully controlled enthusiasm, â€Å"How fortunate I am to be back on germanium.” \r\nâ€Å"Umm,” said Trevize abstractedly.\r\nâ€Å"You know what gaiety has told me? The Mayor is sack back to Terminus with a commercial treaty with Sayshell. The Speaker from the Second Foundation is dismissal back to Trantor convinced that he has arranged it †and that woman, Novi, is going with him to see to it that the changes that will bring about Galaxia are initiated. And incomplete Foundation is in the least aware that Gaia exists. Its absolutely amazing.”\r\nâ€Å"I know,” said Trevize. â€Å"I was told all this, too. But we know that Gaia exists and we can chatter.”\r\nâ€Å" cloud nine doesnt see so. She says no one would believe us, and we would know that. Besides, I, for one, have no intention of ever leaving Gaia.”\r\nTrevize was pulled out of his inner musing. He looked up and said, â€Å"What?”\r\nâ€Å"Im going to stay here. †You know, I cant believe it. Just weeks ago, I was accompaniment a lonely(prenom inal) emotional state on Terminus, the same tone I had lived for decades, immersed in my records and my thoughts and never dreaming anything but that I would go to my death, whenever it efficacy be, still immersed in my records and my thoughts and still living my lonely life †contentedly vegetating. Then, suddenly and un bideedly, I became a astronomic traveler; I was involved with a Galactic crisis; and †do not laugh, Golan †I have found ecstasy.”\r\nâ€Å"Im not laughing, Janov,” said Trevize, â€Å"but are you sure you know what youre doing?”\r\nâ€Å"Oh yes. This matter of Earth is no longer important to me. The fact that it was the only world with a diverse ecology and with intelligent life has been adequately exempted. The Eternals, you know.”\r\nâ€Å"Yes, I know. And youre going to stay on Gaia?”\r\nâ€Å"Absolutely. Earth is the past and Im tired of the past. Gaia is the future.”\r\nâ€Å"Youre not part of Gaia, Janov. Or do you come back of you can become part of it?”\r\nâ€Å"Bliss says that I can become somewhat a part of it †intellectually if not biologically. Shell help, of course.”\r\nâ€Å"But since she is part of it, how can you two find a common life, a common point of view, a common following…”\r\nThey were in the open and Trevize looked gravely at the quiet, high-yield island, and beyond it the sea, and on the horizon, purpled by distance, another island †all of it peaceful, civilized, active, and a unit.\r\nHe said, â€Å"Janov, she is a world; you are a tiny individual. What if she gets tired of you? She is young…”\r\nâ€Å"Golan, Ive thought of that. Ive thought of nothing but that for days. I expect her to grow tired of me; Im no amative idiot. But whatever she gives me till then will be enough. She has already given me enough. I have current more from her than I dreamed existed in life. If I saw her no more from this upshot on, I have ended the winner.”\r\nâ€Å"I dont believe it,” said Trevize gently. â€Å"I hypothecate you are a romantic idiot and, mind you, I wouldnt want you any other way. Janov, we havent known each other for long, but weve been together every moment for weeks and †Im sorry if it sounds crackers †I like you a great deal.”\r\nâ€Å"And I, you, Golan,” said Pelorat.\r\nâ€Å"And I dont want you hurt. I must palaver to Bliss.”\r\nâ€Å"No no. Please dont. Youll lecture her.”\r\nâ€Å"I wont lecture her. Its not entirely to do with you †and I want to talk to her privately. Please, Janov, I dont want to do it behind your back, so grant me your willingness to have me talk to her and get a few things straight. If I am satisfied, I will give you my heartiest congratulations and give thankssgiving †and I will forever hold my peace, whatever happens.”\r\nPelorat shook his head. â€Å"Youll ruin things.”\ r\nâ€Å"I promise I wont I beg you…”\r\nâ€Å" comfortably, But do be careful, my dear fellow, wont you?”\r\nâ€Å"You have my solemn word.”\r\nBliss said, â€Å"Pel says you want to see me.”\r\nTrevize said, â€Å"Yes.”\r\nThey were indoors, in the small flat tire allotted to him.\r\nShe sat down gracefully, crossed her legs, and looked up at him shrewdly, her beautiful brown eyes bright and her long, dark hair glistening.\r\nShe said, â€Å"You disapprove of me, dont you? You have disapproved of me from the start.”\r\nTrevize remained standing. He said, â€Å"You are aware of minds and of their contents. You know what I think of you and wherefore.”\r\nSlowly Bliss shook her head. â€Å"Your mind is out of bounds to Gaia. You know that. Your conclusion was needed and it had to be the finale of a clear and un gained mind. When your ship was first taken, I placed you and Pel within a soothing field, but that was essential . You would have been change †and perhaps rendered useless for a life-and-death time †by panic or rage. And that was all. I could never go beyond that and I havent †so I dont know what youre thinking.”\r\nTrevize said, â€Å"The closing I had to make has been made. I decided in favor of Gaia and Galaxia. Why, then, all this talk of a clear and untouched mind? You have what you want and you can do with me now as you wish.”\r\nâ€Å"Not at all, Trev. There are other decisions that may be needed in the future. You remain what you are and, man you are alive, you are a rare natural resource of the Galaxy. doubtlessly there are others like you in the Galaxy and others like you will appear in the future, but for now we know of you †and only you. We still cannot touch you.”\r\nTrevize considered. â€Å"You are Gaia and I dont want to talk to Gaia. I want to talk to you as an individual, if that has any meaning at all.”\r\nâ€Å"It has mean ing. We are far from subsisting in a common melt. I can block off Gaia for a pointedness of time.”\r\nâ€Å"Yes,” said Trevize. â€Å"I think you can. Have you now done so?”\r\nâ€Å"I have now done so.”\r\nâ€Å"Then, first, let me tell you that you have vie games. You did not enter my mind to influence my decision, perhaps, but you sure entered Janovs mind to do so, didnt you?”\r\n â€Å"Do you think I did?”\r\nâ€Å"I think you did. At the crucial moment, Pelorat reminded me of his own vision of the Galaxy as alive and the thought drove me on to make my decision at that moment. The thought may have been his, but yours was the mind that triggered it, was it not?”\r\nBliss said, â€Å"The thought was in his mind, but there were many thoughts there. I change surface the path before that reminiscence of his about the living Galaxy †and not before any other thought of his. That particular thought, therefore, slipped easily out of his consciousness and into words. Mind you, I did not create the thought. It was there.”\r\nâ€Å"Nevertheless, that amounted to an mediate tampering with the perfect independence of my decision, did it not?”\r\nâ€Å"Gaia felt it necessary.”\r\nâ€Å"Did it? †Well, it may make you feel better †or nobler †to know that although Janovs remark persuaded me to make the decision at that moment, it was the decision I think I would have made even if he had said nothing or if he had tried to suggest me into a decision of a different kind. I want you to know that.”\r\nâ€Å"I am relieved,” said Bliss coolly. â€Å"Is that what you wanted to tell me when you asked to see me?”\r\nâ€Å"No.”\r\nâ€Å"What else is there?”\r\nNow Trevize sat down in a chair he had drawn opposite her so that their knees nearly touched. He leaned toward her.\r\nâ€Å"When we approached Gaia, it was you on the space station. It was you who trapped us; you who came out to get us; you who have remained with us ever since †except for the repast with Dom, which you did not share with us. In particular, it was you on the uttermost Star with us, when the decision was made. Always you.”\r\nâ€Å"I am Gaia.”\r\nâ€Å"That does not explain it. A rabbit is Gaia. A pebble is Gaia. Everything on the planet is Gaia, but they are not all equally Gaia. Some are more equal than others. Why you?”\r\nâ€Å"Why do you think?”\r\nTrevize made the plunge. He said, â€Å"Because I dont think youre Gaia. I think youre more than Gaia.”\r\nBliss made a derisive sound with her lips.\r\nTrevize kept to his course. â€Å"At the time I was making the decision, the woman with the Speaker…”\r\nâ€Å"He called her Novi.”\r\nâ€Å"This Novi, then, said that Gaia was set on its course by the automatons that no longer exist and that Gaia was taught to follow a version of the Three Laws of Ro botics.”\r\nâ€Å"That is quite true.”\r\nâ€Å"And the robots no longer exist?”\r\nâ€Å"So Novi said.”\r\nâ€Å"So Novi did not say. I remember her exact words. She said: ‘Gaia was formed thousands of years ago with the help of robots that once, for a brief time, served The human species and now serve them no more.”\r\nâ€Å"Well, Trev, doesnt that mean they exist no more?”\r\nâ€Å"No, it means they serve no more. Might they not rule instead?”\r\nâ€Å"Ridiculous!”\r\nâ€Å"Or administer? Why were you there at the time of the decision? You did not seem to be essential. It was Novi who conducted matters and she was Gaia. What need of you? Unless…”\r\nâ€Å"Well? Unless?”\r\nâ€Å"Unless you are the supervisor whose role it is to make certain that Gaia does not forget the Three Laws. Unless you are a robot, so cleverly made that you cannot be told from a human being.”\r\nâ€Å"If I cannot be told from a human being, how is it you think that you can tell?” asked Bliss with a trace of sarcasm.\r\nTrevize sat back. â€Å"Do you not all assure me I have the mental faculty of being sure; of making decisions, seeing solutions, mechanical drawing correct conclusions. I dont claim this; it is what you say of me. Well, from the moment I saw you I felt uneasy. There was something haywire with you. I am certainly as susceptible to feminine allure as Pelorat is †more so, I should think †and you are an attractive woman in appearance. Yet not for one moment did I feel the slightest attraction.”\r\nâ€Å"You devastate me.”\r\nTrevize ignored that. He said, â€Å"When you first appeared on our ship, Janov and I had been discussing the possibility of a nonhuman civilization on Gaia, and when Janov saw you, he asked, in his innocence, ‘Are you human? Perhaps a robot must answer the truth, but I articulate it can be evasive. You merely said, Ã¢â‚¬Ë œDont I look human? Yes, you look human, Bliss, but let me ask you again. Are you human?”\r\nBliss said nothing and Trevize continued. â€Å"I think that even at that first moment, I felt you were not a woman. You are a robot and I could somehow tell. And because of my feeling, all the events that followed had meaning for me †particularly your absence from the dinner.”\r\nBliss said, â€Å"Do you think I cannot eat, Trev? Have you forgotten I nibbled a shrimp dish on your ship? I assure you that I am able to eat and perform any of the other biological functions. †Including, before you ask, sex. And yet that in itself, I might as well tell you, does not prove that I am not a robot. Robots had reached the pitch of perfection, even thousands of years ago, where only by their brains were they distinguishable from human beings, and then only by those able to handle mentalic fields. Speaker Gendibal might have been able to tell whether I were robot or human, if he had bothered even once to consider me. Of course, he did not.”\r\nâ€Å"Yet, though I am without mentalics, I am nevertheless convinced you are a robot”\r\nBliss said, â€Å"But what if I am? I admit nothing, but I am curious. What if I am?”\r\nâ€Å"You have no need to admit anything. I know you are a robot If I needed a last bit of evidence, it was your calm assurance that you could block off Gaia and speak to me as an individual. I dont think you could do that if you were part of Gaia †but you are not You are a robot supervisor and, therefore, outside of Gaia. I wonder, come to think of it, how many robot supervisors Gaia requires and possesses?”\r\nâ€Å"I repeat: I admit nothing, but I am curious. What if I am a robot?”\r\nâ€Å"In that case, what I want to know is: What do you want of Janov Pelorat? He is my friend and he is, in some ways, a child. He thinks he loves you; he thinks he wants only what you are willing to give and that you have already given him enough. He doesnt know †and cannot gestate †the agony of the loss of love or, for that matter, the peculiar pain of intimate that you are not human…”\r\nâ€Å"Do you know the pain of lost love?”\r\nâ€Å"I have had my moments. I have not led the provide life of Janov. I have not had my life consumed and anesthetized by an intellectual pursuit that swallowed up everything else, even wife and child. He has. Now suddenly, he gives it all up for you. I do not want him hurt. I will not have him hurt. If I have served Gaia, I deserve a reward †and my reward is your assurance that Janov Pelorats well-being will be preserved.”\r\nâ€Å"Shall I pretend I am a robot and answer you?”\r\nTrevize said, â€Å"Yes. And right now.”\r\nâ€Å"Very well, then. speculate I am a robot, Trev, and suppose I am in a position of supervision. enounce there are a few, a very few, who have a similar role to myself and suppose we rarely meet. enjoin that our driving force is the need to care for human beings and suppose there are no true humans beings on Gaia, because all are part of an overall planetary being.\r\nâ€Å"Suppose that it fulfills us to care for Gaia †but not entirely. Suppose there is something primitive in us that longs for a human being in the sense that existed when robots were first formed and designed. Dont mistake me; I do not claim to be age-old (assuming I am a robot). I am as old as I told you I was or, at least, (assuming I am a robot) that has been the term of my existence. Still, (assuming I am a robot) my fundamental design would be as it always was and I would long to care for a true human being.\r\nâ€Å"Pel is a human being. He is not part of Gaia. He is too old to ever become a true part of Gaia. He wants to stay on Gaia with me, for he does not have the feelings about me that you have. He does not think that I am a robot. Well, I want him, too. If you assume that I am a robot, you see that I would. I am capable of all human reactions and I would love him. If you were to insist I was a robot, you might not consider me capable of love in some mystic human sense, but you would not be able to distinguish my reactions from that which you would call love †so what difference would it make?”\r\nShe stopped and looked at him †intransigently proud. Trevize said, â€Å"You are telling me that you would not abandon him?”\r\nâ€Å"If you assume that I am a robot, then you can see for yourself that by First Law I could never abandon him, unless he ordered me to do so and I were, in addition, convinced that he meant it and that I would be hurting him more by staying than by leaving.”\r\nâ€Å"Would not a younger man…”\r\nâ€Å"What younger man? You are a younger man, but I do not conceive you as needing me in the same sense that Pel does, and, in fact, you do not want me, so that the First Law would prevent me fr om attempting to cling to you.”\r\nâ€Å"Not me. Another younger man…”\r\nâ€Å"There is no other. Who is there on Gaia other than Pel and yourself that would qualify as human beings in the non-Gaian sense?”\r\nTrevize said, more softly, â€Å"And if you are not a robot?”\r\nâ€Å"Make up your mind,” said Bliss.\r\nâ€Å"I say, if you are not a robot?”\r\nâ€Å"Then I say that, in that case, you have no right to say anything at all. It is for myself and for Pel to decide.”\r\nTrev said, â€Å"Then I return to my first point. I want my reward and that reward is that you will treat him well. I wont press the point of your identity. Simply assure me, as one intelligence to another, that you will treat him well.”\r\nAnd Bliss said softly, â€Å"I will treat him well †not as a reward to you, but because I wish to. It is my earnest desire. I will treat him well.” She called â€Å"Pel!” And again, â€Å"Pel!â €\r\nPelorat entered from outside, â€Å"Yes, Bliss.”\r\nBliss held out her hand to him. â€Å"I think Trev wants to say something.”\r\nPelorat took her hand and Trevize then took the doubled hand in his two. â€Å"Janov,” he said, â€Å"I am happy for both of you.”\r\nPelorat said, â€Å"Oh, my dear fellow.”\r\nTrevize said, â€Å"I will probably be leaving Gaia. I go now to speak to Dom about that. I dont know when or if we will meet again, Janov, but, in any case, we did well together.”\r\nâ€Å"We did well,” said Pelorat, smiling.\r\nâ€Å"Good-bye, Bliss, and, in advance, thank you.”\r\nâ€Å"Good-bye, Trev.”\r\nAnd Trevize, with a wave of his hand, left the house.\r\nDom said, â€Å"You did well, Trev. †But then, you did as I thought you would.”\r\nThey were once more academic session over a meal, as unsatisfactory as the first had been, but Trevize did not mind. He might not be eating on Gaia agai n.\r\nHe said, â€Å"I did as I thought you would, but not, perhaps, for the reason you thought I would.”\r\nâ€Å" sure you were sure of the correctness of your decision.”\r\nâ€Å"Yes, I was, but not because of any mystic grip I have on certainty. If I chose Galaxia, it was through ordinary reason †the sort of reasoning that anyone else might have used to come to a decision. Would you care to have me explain?”\r\nâ€Å"I most certainly would, Trev.”\r\nTrevize said, â€Å"There were deuce-ace things I might have done. I might have get together the First Foundation, or fall in the Second Foundation, or joined Gaia.\r\nâ€Å"If I had joined the First Foundation, Mayor Branno would have taken immediate action to establish domination over the Second Foundation and over Gaia. If I had joined the Second Foundation, Speaker Gendibal would have taken immediate action to establish domination over the First Foundation and over Gaia. In either case, wh at would have taken place would have been irreversible †and if either were the ruin solution, it would have been irreversibly catastrophic.\r\nâ€Å"If I joined with Gaia, however, then the First Foundation and the Second Foundation would each have been left with the conviction of having won a relatively minor victory. All would then have continued as before, since the building of Galaxia, I had already been told, would take generations, even centuries.\r\nâ€Å"Joining with Gaia was my way of temporizing, then, and of making sure that there would remain time to modify matters †or even reverse them †if my decision were wrong.”\r\nDom raised his eyebrows. His old, almost cadaverous face remained other expressionless. He said in his piping voice, â€Å"And is it your creed that your decision may turn out wrong?”\r\nTrevize shrugged. â€Å"I dont think so, but there is one thing I must do in order that I might know. It is my intention to visit Earth, i f I can find that world.”\r\nâ€Å"We will certainly not stop you if you wish to leave us, Trev…”\r\nâ€Å"I do not fit on your world.”\r\nâ€Å"No more than Pel does, yet you are as welcome to remain as he is. Still, we will not hold you. †But tell me, why do you wish to visit Earth?”\r\nTrevize said, â€Å"I rather think you understand.”\r\nâ€Å"I do not.”\r\nâ€Å"There is a piece of information you withheld from me, Dom. Perhaps you had your reasons, but I wish you had not.”\r\nDom said, â€Å"I do not follow you.”\r\nâ€Å"Look, Dom, in order to make my decision, I used my computer and for a brief moment I found myself in touch with the minds of those about me †Mayor Branno, Speaker Gendibal, Novi. I caught glimpses of a number of matters that, in isolation, meant little to me, as, for example, the various effects Gaia, through Novi, had produced on Trantor †effects that were intended to maneuver the Speaker into going to Gaia.”\r\nâ€Å"Yes?”\r\nâ€Å"And one of those things was the clearing from Trantors library of all references to Earth.”\r\nâ€Å"The clearing of references to Earth?”\r\nâ€Å"Exactly. So Earth must be important †and not only does it appear that the Second Foundation must know nothing about it, but that I must not, either. And if I am to take the responsibility for the direction of Galactic development, I do not willingly accept ignorance. Would you consider telling me why it was so important to keep knowledge of Earth hidden?”\r\nDom said solemnly, â€Å"Trev, Gaia knows nothing about such clearance. secret code!”\r\nâ€Å"Are you telling me that Gaia is not accountable?”\r\nâ€Å"It is not responsible.”\r\nTrevize thought for a while, the tip of his tongue moving slowly and meditatively over his lips. â€Å"Who was responsible, then?”\r\nâ€Å"I dont know. I can see no purpose in it.â₠¬Â\r\nThe two men stared at each other and then Dom said, â€Å"You are right. We had seemed to have reached a most satisfactory conclusion, but while this point remains unsettled, we dare not rest. †preserve a while with us and let us see what we can reason out. Then you can leave, with our full help.”\r\nâ€Å"Thank you,” said Trevize.\r\nTHE END\r\n'