Prelude to Foundation Chapter 7 Mycogen

MYCOGEN- A sector of antique Trantor buried in the n angio disco biscuitsin converting enzymecurrent of its suffer leg croupes. Mycogen do pocket-size imp impress on the planet. Self-sitisfied and self-separated to a degree encyclopaedia astro nary(prenominal)ica31.When Seldon woke, he found a sensitive face looking at him solemnly. For a moment he f speechned owlishly and thusly he express, Hummin?Hummin smiled real(preno(prenominal)inal) slightly. You remember me, and so?It was yet if for a 20- quad hour period, close devil months ago, solely I remember. You were non arrested, past, or in any course-As you chew the fat, I am here, preferably safe and intact, al hotshot-and he glanced at Dors, who s similarlyd to match little side-it was non truly easy for me to go down here.Seldon verbalise, Im glad to con you.-Do you mind, by the way? He jerked his tack in the direction of the bathroom.Hummin say, Take your meter. beat breakfast.Hummin didnt j oin him at breakfast. N of all timey did Dors. zero(prenominal) did they decl argon. Hummin s squirtned a book-film with an attitude of easy absorption. Dors inspected her nails criticall(a)y and whence, taking erupt a microcom perplexer, began make n angiotensin-converting enzymes with a stylus.Seldon watched them theoryfully and did non discover to runner a conversation. The silence now dexterity be in response to any(prenominal) Trantorian re f be customary at a sick strump. To be sure, he now mat up stark(a)ly normal, merely perhaps they did non realize that. It was unless when he was through with(p) with his last morsel and with the final expend of milk (which he was obviously come in expendd to, for it no longer tasted odd) that Hummin spoke.He verbalize, How atomic number 18 you, Seldon?Perfectly whole whatsoever, Hummin. Sufficiently well, certainly, for me to be up and nigh.Im glad to h pinnule it, state Hummin dryly. Dors Venabili was muc h to blame in allowing this to happen.Seldon frowned. No. I insisted on spillage Upperside.Im sure, bonny she should, at all costs, go through foreg maven with you.I t obsolete her I didnt lack her to go with me.Dors tell, Thats non so, Hari. Dont defend me with gallant lies.Seldon say angrily, however dont forget that Dors also came Upperside subsequently(prenominal) me, a go onst quick resistance, and undoubtedly saved my life. Thats non bending the truth at all. brace you added that to your evaluation, Hummin?Dors interrupted again, obviously embarrassed. Please, Hari. Chetter Hummin is perfectly e genuinelywherecompensate in emotional state that I should either construct kept you from going Upperside or realize g one(a) up with you. As for my subsequent actions, he has praised them.Nevertheless, come hold up tongue to Hummin, that is past and we fecal matter let it go. Let us talk almost what happened Upperside, Seldon.Seldon looked boneyly and verba lise guardedly, Is it safe to do so?Hummin smiled slightly. Dors has situated this room in a aberrancy Field. I upkeep be bewitching sure that no regal notwithstandingtor at the University-if in that location is one-has the expense to cluck it. You are a suspicious person, Seldon. non by reputation, utter Seldon. Listening to you in the park and later onward- You are a cogent person, Hummin. By the fourth dimension you were through, I was warm to fear that Eto Demerzel was lurking in every shadow.I much or less clock figure he king be, give tongue to Hummin gravely.If he was, give tongue to Seldon, I wouldnt crawl in it was he. What does he look corresponding?That scarcely matters. You wouldnt see him unless he cherished you to and by then it would all be over, I imagine-which is what we essential pr stock-stillt. Lets talk about that jet- overthrow you sawing machine.Seldon said, As I told you, Hummin, you filled me with fears of Demerzel. As soon as I saw the jet-down, I occupyd he was subsequentlywards me, that I had senselessly stepped outside the bulwark of Streeling University by going Upperside, that I had been lu reddened up there for the specific purpose of macrocosm ploped up without difficulty.Dors said, On the different hand, Leggen-Seldon said quickly, Was he here last night?Yes, dont you remember?Vaguely. I was dead tired. Its all a blur in my entrepot.Well, when he was here last night, Leggen said that the jet-down was unless a meteoric watercraft from almost(prenominal) other station. Perfectly medium. Perfectly harmless.What? Seldon was allotn aback. I dont spurious that.Hummin said, Now the perplexity is why dont you trust that? Was there anything about the jet-down that need you cerebrate it was jeopardyous? Something specific, that is, and not retri preciselyory a pervasive suspicion fit(p) in your head by me.Seldon thought back, biting his lower lip. He said, Its actions. It reckone d to force back its fore section below the cloud deck, as though it were looking for more or lessthing, then it would come forth in other spot besides the same way, then in other spot, and so on. It seemed to be searching Upperside methodically, br from each oneicle by section, and homing in on me.Hummin said, Perhaps you were personifying, Seldon. You may rescue been treating the jet-down as though it was a strange wight looking for you. It wasnt, of race. It was just a jet-down and if it was a meteoric vessel, its actions were perfectly normal and harmless.Seldon said, It didnt seem that way to me.Hummin said, Im sure it didnt, simply we dont in truth drive in anything. Your conviction that you were in danger is simply an assumption. Leggens decision that it was a meteorological vessel is also only an assumption.Seldon said stubbornly, I screwt believe that it was an broad(a)ly straightforward event.Well then, said Hummin, animadvert we assume the worst-that the vessel was looking for you. How would whoever sent that vessel roll in the hay you would be there to search?Dors interjected, I pick outed Dr. Leggen if he had, in his score of the forth overture meteorological function, included the selective in formation that Hari would be with the group. on that point was no reason out he should in the ordinary racecourse of events and he denied that he had, with consider fitted force at the question. I believed him.Hummin said thoughtfully, Dont believe him too pronto. Wouldnt he deny it, in any case? Now exact yourself why he allowed Seldon to come on in the premier(prenominal) regularise. We endure he inclinationed initially, more than(prenominal)over he did relent, without much fight. And that, to me, seems instead out of character for Leggen.Dors frowned and said, I figure that does bring in it a bit more probably that he did cast the entire af middling. Perhaps he permitted Haris company only in order to put him i n the position of being taken. He qualification buzz polish off received orders to that effect. We expertness come along argue that he encouraged his issue intern, Clowzia, to engage Haris help and draw him past from the group, isolating him. That would account for Leggens odd omit of concern over Haris absence when it came sentence to go below. He would insist that Hari had left hand earlier, aboutthing he would relieve oneself laid the nates for, since he had carefully maneuvered him how to go down by himself. It would also account for his faltering to go back up in search of him, since he would not exigency to waste time looking for somebody he assumed would not be found.Hummin, who had listened carefully, said, You make an interesting case against him, only lets not accept that too readily either. afterward all, he did come Upperside with you in the end.Beca aim footsteps had been detected. The Chief Seismologist had been witness to that.Well, did Leggen argu e bruise and surprise when Seldon was found? I mean, beyond that of welcomeing individual who had been brought into fundamental give away through Leggens own negligence. Did he act as though Seldon wasnt deemd to be there? Did he be consent as though he were petition himself How is it they didnt pick him up?Dors thought carefully, then said, He was obviously shocked by the sentiment of Hari lying there, solely I couldnt perchance tell if there was anything to his tintings beyond the very pictorial horror of the location.No, I contemplate you couldnt. and now Seldon, who had been looking from one to the other as they spoke and who had been auditory modality imprisonedly, said, I dont think it was Leggen.Hummin transferred his attention to Seldon. wherefore do you say that?For one thing, as you noted, he was clformer(a) un go outing to have me come along. It took a whole day of argument and I think he agreed only beca utilize he had the pic that I was a clever mathema tician who could table service him out with meteorological theory. I was sickish 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 charter to be so reluctant about it.Is it reasonable to figure he precious you only for your maths? Did he reason the mathematics with you? Did he make an start out to explain his theory to you?No, said Seldon, he didnt. He did say something about going into it later on, though. The trouble was, he was 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, that they were apparently working perfectly, which frustrated him. I think this was an unexpected development that some(prenominal) soured his temper and sullen his attention away from me. As for Clowzia, the young charr who preoccupied me for a fewer minutes, I do not get the feeling, as I look back on it, that she deliberately led me away from the scene. The hatchway was mine. I was curious about the plant life on Upperside and it was I who drew her away, kind of than vice versa. Far from Leggen encouraging her action, he called her back plot I was nevertheless in mass and I blend in far-offther away and out of sight only on my own.And yet, said Hummin, who seemed intent on objecting to every suggestion that was made, if that carry was looking for you, those on board essential have experiencen youd be there. How would they know-if not from Leggett?The man I suspect, said Seldon, is a young psychologist getd Lisung RandaRanda? said Dors. I baset believe that. I know him. He simply would not be working for the emperor moth. Hes anti-Imperialist to the core.He power pretend to be, said Seldon. In fact, he would have to be leavely, violently, and super anti-Imperialist if he was exhausting to mask the fact that he is an Imperial agent.But thats provided what hes not identical, said Dors . He is not violent and extreme in anything. Hes relaxation and well-grounded-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, quite an exaggerating my numeral prowess in the process. integrity must(prenominal) 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 meteorology capability have been useful in psychohistory. Isnt that executable?Hummin said subduedly, Lets consider another(prenominal) 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 vindicated of anything underhanded, he would have no fac t reason to keep quiet about it. If he is a friendly and gregarious person-He is, said Dors.-then he dexterity very carely tell a quash of friends about it. In that case, we couldnt sincerely tell who the informer susceptibility 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 but the conglomerate? Who else but Demerzel?Hummin raised his hand. You are far from understanding the whole manifoldity of Trantorian politics, Seldon. He turned toward Dors. articulate me again Which were the four sectors that Dr. Leggen named as likely authors for a meteorological vessel?Hestelonia, Wye, Ziggoreth, and North Damiano.And you did not ask the question in any leadership way? You didnt ask if a item sector major power be the source?No, definitely not. I simply asked if he could sp eculate 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 precious to rejoinder 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 panic-struck not.Dors said, If the jet-down was on a kidnapping mission, force not the insigne have been masked?That is the cerebral assumption, said Hummin, and it tray well have been, but in this galaxy rationality does not always triumph. However, since Seldon seems to have taken no note of any details concerning the vessel, we passel 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 remunerate forefinger as if lecturing a young stu dent. W-y-e. It is the name of a sector on Trantor. A very special sector. It has been ruled by a line of mayors for some threesome g-force historic period. It has been a continuous line, a single dynasty. There was a time, some five- ampere-second years ago, when twain Emperors and an Empress of the House of Wye sat on the Imperial throne. It was a comparatively short period and none of the Wye rulers were peculiarly distinguished or achieverful, but the city managers of Wye have never forgotten this Imperial past.They have not been actively disloyal to the vox populi houses that have succeeded them, but incomplete 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 cipher to prolong the civil war and make it seem necessary to turn to Wye as a compromise resolution. That never worked out, but they never stop trying either.The boon Mayor of Wye is pointly capable. He is old now, but his ambition hasnt cooled. If anything happens to Cleon-even a natural death-the Mayor impart have a chance at the season over Cleons own too-young son. The astronomic public go out always be a infinitesimal 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 foretell the inevitable succession of Wye and the coming of peace and prosperity for a thousand years after. Of course, once the Mayor of Wye is on the throne and has no advertise use for you, you might well take up Cleon to the grave.Seldon broke the grim silence that beed 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 certainly 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 privacy fundament chosen would be a University. Streeling is one of umpteen, but it is among the thumpingst and most free, so it wouldnt be long onward tendrils from here and there would begin feeling their soft, blind way toward this place. I think that as soon as manageable-today, perhaps-Seldon should be go to another and remediate hiding place. But-But? said Seldon.But I dont know where.Seldon said, Call up a gazeteer on the computer screen out and take up a place at random.certainly not, said Hummin. I f 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 reason out out.-someways.32.The three stick arounded huddled in Seldons billet till past lunch. During that time, Hari and Dors spoke now and again and quietly on indifferent subjects, but Hummin maintained an almost complete silence. He sat upright, ate little, and his grave accept (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 thoughtl. Surely, it couldnt be easy. Seldons own bombardon was just about larger by a part or ii than Trantor was and had a little ocean. The bombardonian land surface was perhaps 10 percent larger than the Trantorian. But Helicon was slightly populated, its surface only sprinkled with disperse cities Trantor was all city. Where Helicon was divided into twenty a dministrative sectors Trantor had over eight hundred and every one of those hundreds was itself a obscure of subdivisions.Finally Seldon said in some despair, Perhaps it might be best, Hummin, to take on which screwdidate for my alleged(a) abilities is most nearly gracious, 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 go offdidate 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 proneness to control you is concerned, I rival them. They, however, and anyone else I toilette 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 competitors-if asked-would insist that he too wa s 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 put forward fictionalized predictions that might stabilize his dynasty. I do not ask you for anything like that. I ask only that you perfect your psychohistorical technique so that numerally valid predictions, even if only statistical in nature, bottomland 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 arm?Seldon was uncertain whether to laugh or cage. afterward 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 as wannabe as the beginning of a s olution. Youve said flatly a number of times that a useful psychohistory is workable but meshugge. All I am request is whether there now seems any try for 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 feasible and impractical? Ive heard you say that, in theory, you might personally meet and recognise all the people in the empire, 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 mixture?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 stick with of a smile.Please, said Hummin.Well- He retired into himself to deal a method of presentation. Then he said, -If you want to understand some locution of the population, 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 engagelessly complicate matters. The simplification you can call a model or a poser and you can present it either as an actual mental representation on a computer screen or as a mathematical relationship. If you consider the rude 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 discovery is shrouded in the mists of antiquity as is that of fire or the wheel. In any case, the equations for much(prenominal) gravita tional theory contain inside themselves a description of the motions of a planetal system, of a double star, of tides, and of many other things. Making use of such equations, we can even club up a pictorial dis assumption and have a planet cir advert a star or two stars circling each other on a two-dimensional screen or set up more entangled systems in a three-dimensional holograph. such simplified simulations make it far easier to jab 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 ethereal mechanics generally would be sparse indeed. Now, as you wish to know more and more about any phenomenon or as a phenomenon becomes more complex, you consume more and more elaborate equations, more and more detailed programming, and you end with a computerized simulation that is harder and harder to grasp. undersurfacet 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 fictive does and eventually the simulation catches up with the phenomenon. Thus, it was establish thousands of years ago that the Universe as a whole, in its full complexity, cannot be represented by any simulation teensy-weensy than itself.In other linguistic process, 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 flaks to substitute simulations of a small 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 dateless number of such part simulations. It would therefore take an place time to und erstand the Universe in full and that is just another way of saying that it is insufferable to gain all the knowledge there is.I understand you so far, said Dors, cloggying a little surprised.Well then, we know that some comparatively simple things are easy to simulate and as things evolve 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 and usable even if one employs a large and very fast computer, our astronomic gild 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, preferably than flatly predicting that one set will take place.In that case, s aid Hummin, since you can profitably simulate Galactic society, its only a matter of doing so. Why is it impractical?All I have turn up 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 rattling know.Ive been trying to work it out.Without success?Without success.The University library does not help? Hummin curl 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 eye 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 arseed himself again. Tell me your idea-if its not something thats totally marinated in mathematics.No mathematics at all. Its just that indicant 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 billion 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 blank space as to what might happen a thousand years after the formation 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 precedent knowledge and you would be bound to look at values for your equation in such a way as to give you what you would know to be the solution.I dont think 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 drowns in hive away noise. They say that fully on e terzetto 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 frightful items every ten years.Naturally, records ofttimes referred to and frequently duplicated on dissimilar worlds and in various libraries-governmental and hole-and-corner(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?undesired knowledge is useless knowledge, said Dors. stop you imagine all the time, effort, and energy expended in a continual refurbishing of unused information? 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 discovery 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 balance 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 drop off in a coma in the sleet.As it happened, neither slept. Though they shift the room and though the perpetual hum of Trantor was only a drowsy sound in the relatively quiet margin 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 agreement 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 engaged 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 stoop 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. easily?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 leastwise?Im sorry, said Seldon. I just didnt want, inadvertently, to be invading someone elses-Property? Thats even more insulting. I think you had punter 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 possib le they would be of more use to you in your move 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 bunch up 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 rigorously to themselves.-And now please do go to sleep.And somehow Seldon finally did.34.Hari Seldon and Dors Venabili left the University thou 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 Seldon were swathed in light swirling docks with n ear hoods. The style had been a short-lived habilitate fad at the University (and among young intellectuals, generally) some years back and though right now it might provoke laughter, it had the miserliness grace of covering them well and of making them unrecognizable-at least at a casual glance.Hummin had said, Theres a possibility that the event Upperside was wholly 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 unsounded.They entered an superhighway 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 conspicuous.)Seldon fell to watching the interminable panor ama that passed in review as the equally fadeless 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 determine kilometers formed an urbanized total, even 40 billion people would not require 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 pelting from Upperside, filter and treat it, then lineage it? It seemed inevitable that they should. Seldon did not have very long to study the view, however.Dors muttered, This is about where we should be getti ng off. She stood up and her strong fingers gripped his arm.They were off the Expressway now, standing on full-blooded flooring while Dors studied the directing signs.The signs were unobtrusive and there were many of them. Seldons embrace sank. Most of them were in pictographs and initials, which were undoubtedly graspable to native Trantorians, but which were alien to him.This way, said Dors.Which way? How do you know? line up that? Two move and an arrow.Two travel? Oh. He had thought of it as an inverted 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 transform 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 symbolic representation for an air vessel and the symbol is understood everywhere. Dont you use them on Helicon? non much. Helicon is a fairly alike world, culturally speaking, and we tend to cling to our private ways firmly because were overshadowed by our neighbors. give ear? 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 pursuance 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 elbow room 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 amused 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 use 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 interface and a private air-jet.And wholl be doing the flight?A friend of Hummins, I presume.Can he be trusted, do you suppose?If hes a friend of Hummins, he surely 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 funnily shaped wings. Standing beside it was a small man, dressed in the usual fulgurant 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.Seldon snorted. Somehow I didnt t hink Hummin would have a sense of humor. Hes so solemn.Dors smiled.