Prelude to Foundation Chapter 18 Overthrow

THALUS, EMMER- A sergeant in the armed security forces of the Wye Sector of ancient Trantor Aside from these tot wholey unremarkable vital statistics, zilch is kn own of the man except that on iodine occasion he held the fate of the Galaxy in his fist.Encyclopedia Galactica87.Breakfast the next sunrise was served in an alcove skilful the rooms of the captured three and it was luxurious indeed. There certainly was a considerable variety to the food and more than than enough of e trulything. Seldon sat at the breakfast table with a mound of spicy sausages in the first place him, totally ignoring Dors Venabilis gloomy predictions concerning stomachs and colic.Raych verbalize, The shuttlecock the Madam Mayor said when she came to notice me last dark-She came to follow through you? said Seldon.Yeah. She said she emergencyed to make undisputable I was comfortable. She said when she had a chance she would tear a leak me to a zoo.A zoo? Seldon supposeed at Dors. What amiab le of zoo brush off they scram on Trantor? Cats and dogs?There be some aboriginal animals, said Dors, and I imagine they import some aboriginals from other worlds and on that point are also the shared animals that all the worlds establish-other worlds having more than Trantor, of course. As a matter of fact, Wye has a famous zoo, probably the best on the planet by and by the royal Zoo itself.Raych said, Shes a nice old lady.Not that old, said Dors, simply shes certainly feeding us salutary.Theres that, admitted Seldon.When breakfast was over, Raych left to go exploring. one time they had retired to Dorss room, Seldon said with marked discontent, I dont know how long well be left to ourselves. Shes obviously plotted tracks of preoccupying our time.Dors said, Actually, we keep up little to complain of at the mo manpowert. Were more than more comfortable here than we were either in Mycogen or Dahl.Seldon said, Dors, youre not being won over by that woman, are you?Me? By Ra shelle? Of course not. How drop you mayhap think so?Well, youre comfortable. Youre well-fed. It would be natural to relax and accept what fortune brings.Yes, very natural. And why not do that?Look, you were telling me last night ab aside whats going to happen if she wins out. I may not be much of a historian myself, exactly I am allowing to shoot for your word for it and, actually, it makes sense-even to a nonhistorian. The Empire provide shatter and its s accentings will be fighting each other for for indefinitely. She must(prenominal) be stopped.I agree, said Dors. She must be. What I fail to see is how we can manage to do that little thing right at this moment. She looked at Seldon narrowly. Hari, you didnt sleep last night, did you?Did you? It was apparent he had not.Dors stared at him, a troubled look clouding her facial gesture. Have you lain awake thinking of Galactic destruction because of what I said?That and some other things. Is it manageable to reach Chetter Hu mmin?This last was said in a whisper.Dors said, I tried to reach him when we first had to flee arrest in Dahl. He didnt come. Im sure he received the message, that he didnt come. It may be that, for any of a number of reasons, he just couldnt come to us, but when he can he will.Do you enjoin something has happened to him?No, said Dors patiently. I dont think so.How can you know?The word would somehow get to me. Im sure of it. And the word hasnt gotten to me.Seldon frowned and said, Im not as self-confident as you are about all this. In fact, Im not confident at all. Even if Hummin came, what can he do in this case? He cant fight all of Wye. If they befool, as Rashelle claims, the best-organized army on Trantor, what will he be able to do against it?Theres no point in discussing that. Do you suppose you can convince Rashelle-bang it into her head somehow-that you dont have psychohistory?Im sure shes aware that I dont have it and that Im not going to get it for many years-if at al l. besides shell maintain I have psychohistory and if she does that skillfully enough, people will believe her and eventually they will act on what she says my predictions and pronouncements are-even if I dont say a word.Surely, that will turn over time. She wont build you up overnight. Or in a week. To do it properly, it faculty take her a year.Seldon was pacing the length of the room, turning sharply on his dog and striding back. That might be so, but I dont know. There would be pressure on her to do things quickly. She doesnt strike me as the kind of woman who has cultivated the exercise of patience. And her old father, Mannix IV, would be even more impatient. He must feel the nearness of death and if hes worked for this all his life, he would much prefer to see it through a week before his death rather than a week later on. Besides-Here he paused and looked around the empty room. Besides what?Well, we must have our freedom. You see, Ive resolved the psychohistory problem. Dorss eyes widened. You have it Youve worked it out.Not worked it out in the full sense. That might take decades centuries, for all I know. But I now know its practical, not just metaphysical. I know it can be done so I must have the time, the peace, the facilities to work at it. The Empire must be held together till I-or possibly my successors-will learn how best to come up it so or how to minimize the disaster if it does split up despite us. It was the thought of having a beginning to my task and of not being able to work at it, that kept me up last night.88.It was their fifth day in Wye and in the morning Dors was helping Raych into a formal costume that neither was quite familiar with. Raych looked at himself dubiously in the holomirror and saw a reflected image that faced him with precision, imitating all his motions but without any inversion of left and right. Raych had never used a holomirror before and had been unable to keep from assay to feel it, thus laughing, almost with embarrassment, when his bridge player passed through it while the images hand poked ineffectually at his real body.He said at last, I look funny.He studied his tunic, which was make of a very pliant material, with a thin filigreed belt, then passed his hands up a stiff collar that rose wish a cup foregone his ears on either side.My head looks like a ball inside a bowl.Dors said, But this is the sort of thing rich children wear in Wye. Everyone who sees you will admire you and envy you.With my hair all stuck belt down?Certainly. Youll wear this round little hat.Itll make my head more like a ball.Then dont allow anyone kick it. Now, remember what I told you. Keep your wits about you and dont act like a kid.But I am a kid, he said, aspect up at her with a wide-eyed innocent expression.Im surprised to hear you say that, said Dors. Im sure you think of yourself as a twelve-year-old adult.Raych grinned. Okay. Ill be a veracious spy.Thats not what Im telling you to be. Dont tak e chances. Dont sneak behind doors to listen. If you get caught at it, youre no good to anyone-especially not to yourself.Aw, cmon, missus, what do ya think I am? A kid or somethin?You just said you were, didnt you, Raych? You just listen to everything thats said without seeming to. And remember what you hear. And tell us. Thats simple enough.Simple enough for you to say, Missus Venabili, said Raych with a grin, and simple enough for me to do.And be careful.Raych winked. You bet.A flunky (as coolly impolite as unless an arrogant flunky can be) came to take Raych to where Rashelle was awaiting him.Seldon looked after them and said thoughtfully, He probably wont see the zoo, hell be listening so carefully. Im not sure its right to thrust a boy into risk of exposure like that.Danger? I doubt it. Raych was brought up in the slums of Billibotton, remember. I suspect he has more alley smarts than you and I put together. Besides, Rashelle is fond of him and will interpret everything he does in his favor. Poor woman.Are you actually sorry for her, Dors?Do you entail that shes not worth sympathy because shes a Mayors daughter and considers herself a Mayor in her own right-and because shes intent on destroying the Empire? Perhaps youre right, but even so there are some aspects of her for which one might show some sympathy. For instance, shes had an unhappy love affair. Thats pretty evident. Undoubtedly, her heart was broken-for a time, at least.Seldon said, Have you ever had an unhappy love affair, Dors?Dors considered for a moment or two, then said, Not really. Im too involved with my work to get a broken heart.I thought as much.Then why did you ask?I might have been wrong.How about you?Seldon seemed uneasy. As a matter of fact, yes. I have spared the time for a broken heart. Badly cracked, anyway.I thought as much.Then why did you ask?Not because I thought I might be wrong, I promise you. I just trusted to see if you would lie. You didnt and Im glad.There was a p ause and then Seldon said, Five days have passed and nothing has happened.Except that we are being toughened well, Hari.If animals could think, theyd think they were being treated well when they were only being fattened for the slaughter.I admit shes fattening the Empire for the slaughter.But when?I presume when shes ready.She boasted she could complete the coup in a day and the impression I got was that she could do that on any day.Even if she could, she would want to make sure that she could cripple the Imperial reaction and that might take time.How much time? She plans to cripple the reaction by using me, but she is making no effort to do so. There is no sign that shes trying to build up my importance. Wherever I go in Wye Im unrecognized. There are no Wyan crowds gathering to cheer me. Theres nothing on the intelligence holocasts.Dors smiled. unmatchable would almost suppose that your feelings are hurt at not being made famous. Youre naive, Hari. Or not a historian, which is the same thing. I think you had best(p) be more pleased that the study of psychohistory will be bound to make a historian of you than that it may save the Empire. If all human beings mute history, they might cease making the same stupid mistakes over and over.In what way am I naive? asked Seldon lifting his head and staring down his honker at her.Dont be offended, Hari. I think its one of your attractive features, actually.I know. It arouses your maternal instincts and you have been asked to take care of me. But in what way am I naive?In thinking that Rashelle would try to propagandize the population of the Empire, generally, into accepting you as seer. She would accomplish nothing in that way. Quadrillions of people are hard to move quickly. There is social and psychological inertia, as well as physical inertia. And, by coming out into the open, she would simply alert Demerzel.Then what is she doing?My call up is that the information about you-suitably exaggerated and glorified -is going out to a crucial few. It is going to those Viceroys of sectors, those admirals of fleets, those people of influence she feels look kindly upon her-or grimly upon the Emperor. A coke or so of those who might rally to her side will manage to confuse the Loyalists just long enough to allow Rashelle the First to set up her New Order firmly enough to beat off whatever resistance might develop. At least, I imagine that is how she reasons.And yet we havent heard from Hummin.Im sure he must be doing something just the same. This is too important to ignore.Has it occurred to you that he might be utterly?Thats a possibility, but I dont think so. If he was, the news would reach me.Here?Even here.Seldon raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.Raych came back in the late afternoon, happy and excited, with descriptions of monkeys and of Bakarian demoires and he dominated the conversation during dinner.It was not until after dinner when they were in their own quarters that Dors said, Now , tell me what happened with Madam Mayor, Raych. Tell me anything she did or said that you think we ought to know.One thing, said Raych, his face visible radiation up. Thats why she didnt show at dinner, I bet.What was it?The zoo was closed except for us, you know. There were lots of us-Rashelle and me and all sorts of guys in uniforms and dames in fancy clothes and like that. Then this guy in a uniform-a different guy, who wasnt there to begin with-came in toward the end and he said something in a low sound and Rashelle turned to all the people and made with her hand like they shouldnt move and they didnt. And she went a little ways away with this new guy, so she could talk to him and no one could hear her. Except I kept paying no aid and kept looking at the different cages and sort of moved near to Rashelle so I could hear her. She said, How dare they? like she was real mad. And the guy in the uniform, he looked nervous-I just got quick looks because I was trying to make out li ke I was watching the animals-so mostly I just heard the words. He said somebody-I dont remember the name, but he was a general or somethin. He said this general said the officers had sworn religious to Rashelles old man-Sworn allegiance, said Dors.Somethin like that and they was nervous about havin to do what a dame says. He said they wanted the old man or else, if he was kind of sick, he should pick some guy to be Mayor, not a dame.Not a dame? Are you sure?Thats what he said. He like whispered it. He was so nervous and Rashelle was so mad she could hardly speak. She said, Ill have his head. They will all swear allegiance to me tomorrow and whoever refuses will lave cause to regret it before an hour has passed. Thats exactly what she said. She broke up the whole party and we all came back and she didnt say one word to me all the time. Just sat there, looking kinda mean and angry.Dors said, Good. Dont you mention this to anyone, Raych. argumentation not. Is it what you wanted?Very much what I wanted. You did well, Raych. Now, go to your room and forget the whole thing. Dont even think about it.Once he was gone, Dors turned to Seldon and said, This is very interesting. Daughters have succeeded fathers-or mothers, for that matter-and held Mayoralties or other high offices on any number of occasions. There have even been reigning Empresses, as you undoubtedly know, and I cant think back that there was ever in Imperial history any serious question of serving down the stairs one. It makes one wonder why such a thing should now, arise in Wye.Seldon said, Why not? Weve only recently been in Mycogen, where women are held in a total lack of esteem and couldnt possibly hold positions of power, however little.Yes, of course, but thats an exception. There are other places where women dominate. For the most part, though, government and power have been more or less equi agitateual. If more men tend to hold high positions, it is usually because women tend to be more boun d-biologically-to children.But what is the situation in Wye?Equisexual, as far as I know. Rashelle didnt flitter to assume Mayoral power and I imagine old Mannix didnt hesitate to grant it to her. And she was surprised and furious at encountering male dissent. She cant have expected it.Seldon said, Youre distinctly pleased at this. Why?Simply because its so unnatural that it must be contrived and I imagine Hummin is doing the contriving.Seldon said thoughtfully, You think so?I do, said Dors.You know, said Seldon, so do I.89.It was their tenth day in Wye and in the morning Hari Seldons door signal sounded and Raychs high-pitched voice outside was hollo out, Mister Mister Seldon Its warSeldon took a moment to swap from sleep to wakefulness and scrambled out of bed. He was shivering s mildly (the Wyans liked their domiciles on the chilly side, he had discovered quite early in his stay there) when he threw the door open.Raych bounced in, excited and wide-eyed. Mister Seldon, they hav e Mannix, the old Mayor. They have-Who have, Raych?The Imperials, Their jets came in last night all over. The news holocasts are telling all about it. Its on in Missuss room. She said to let ya sleep, but I figured ya would wanner know.And you were quite right. Seldon pausing only tong enough to cave in on a bathrobe, burst into Dorss room. She was fully dressed and was watching the holo-set in the alcove.Behind the clear, small image of a desk sat a man, with the Spaceship-and-Sun sharply be on the left-front of his tunic. On either side, two soldiers, also wearing the Spaceship-and-Sun, stood armed. The officer at the desk was saying, -is under the peaceful control of his Imperial Majesty. Mayor Mannix is safe and well and is in full possession of his Mayoral powers under the guidance of friendly Imperial troops. He will be before you soon to urge quiesce on all Wyans and to ask any Wyan soldiers still in arms to lay them down.There were other news holocasts by various newsmen with unemotional voices, all wearing Imperial armbands. The news was all the same surrender by this or that unit of the Wyan security forces after firing a few shots for the record-and sometimes after no resistance at all. This town center and that town center were occupied-and there were repeated views of Wyan crowds somberly watching Imperial forces marching down the streets.Dors said, It was perfectly executed, Hari. Surprise was complete. There was no chance of resistance and none of consequence was offered.Then Mayor Mannix IV appeared, as had been promised. He was standing candid and, perhaps for the sake of appearances, there were no Imperials in sight, though Seldon was reasonably certain that an adequate number were present just out of camera range.Mannix was old, but his strength, though worn, was still apparent. His eyes did not meet the holo-camera and his words were spoken as though forced upon him-but, as had been promised, they counseled Wyans to remain calm, to offe r no resistance, to keep Wye from harm, and to cooperate with the Emperor who, it was hoped, would survive long on the throne.No mention of Rashelle, said Seldon. Its as though his daughter doesnt exist.No one has mentioned her, said Dors, and this place, which is, after all, her residence-or one of them-hasnt been attacked. Even if she manages to slip away and take refuge in some neighboring sector, I doubt she will be safe anyplace on Trantor for long.Perhaps not, came a voice but Ill be safe here for a little while. Rashelle entered. She was properly dressed, properly calm. She was even smiling, but it was no smile of joy it was, rather, a cold baring of teeth.The three stared at her in surprise for a moment and Seldon wondered if she had any of her servants with her or if they had promptly forsake her at the first sign of adversity.Dors said a little coldly, I see, Madam Mayor, that your hopes for a coup can not be maintained. Apparently, you have been forestalled.I have not be en forestalled. I have been betrayed. My officers have been tampered with and-against all history and rationality-they have refused to fight for a woman but only for their old master. And, traitors that they are, they then let their old master be seized so that he cannot lead them in resistance.She looked about for a chair and sat down. And now the Empire must continue to disintegrate and die when I was prepared to offer it new life.I think, said Dors, the Empire has avoided an indefinite period of useless fighting and destruction. cabinet yourself with that, Madam Mayor.It was as though Rashelle did not hear her. So many years of preparation destroyed in a night.She sat there beaten, defeated, and seemed to have aged twenty years.Dors said, It could scarcely have been done in a night. The suborning of your officers-if that took place-must have taken time.At that, Demerzel is a master and quite obviously I underestimated him. How he did it, I dont know-threats, bribes, smooth and s pecious argument. He is a master at the art of stealth and betrayal-I should have known. She went on after a pause. If this was limitless force on his part, I would have had no trouble destroying anything he sent against us. Who would think that Wye would be betrayed, that an blasphemy of allegiance would be so lightly thrown aside?Seldon said with automatic rationality, But I imagine the oath was made not to you, but to your father.Nonsense, said Rashelle vigorously. When my father gave me the Mayoral office, as he was legally entitled to do, he automatically passed on to me any oaths of allegiance made to him. There is ample precedence for this. It is customary to have the oath repeated to the new ruler, but that is a ceremony only and not a legal requirement. My officers know that, though they choose to forget. They use my womanhood as an excuse because they quake in fear of Imperial vengeance that would never have come had they been staunch or tremble with greed for promised re wards they will surely never get-if I know Demerzel. She turned sharply toward Seldon. He wants you, you know. Demerzel struck at us for you.Seldon started. Why me?Dont be a fool. For the same reason I wanted you to use you as a tool, of course. She sighed. At least I am not utterly betrayed. There are still loyal soldiers to be found.-SergeantSergeant Emmer Thalus entered with a soft cautious step that seemed incongruous, considering his size. His uniform was spruce, his long blond mustache fiercely curled.Madam Mayor, he said, drawing himself to attention with a snap. He was still, in appearance, the side of beef that Hari had named him-a man still following orders blindly, totally oblivious to the new and changed state of affairs.Rashelle smiled sadly at Raych. And how are you, little Raych? I had meant to make something of you. It seems now I wont be able to.Hello, Missus Madam, said Raych awkwardly.And to have made something of you too, Dr. Seldon, said Rashelle, and there als o I must crave pardon. I cannot.For me, Madam, you need have no regrets.But I do. I cannot very well let Demerzel have you. That would be one victory too many for him and at least I can stop that.I would not work for him, Madam, I assure you, any more than I would have worked for you.It is not a matter of work. It is a matter of being used. Farewell, Dr. Seldon. Sergeant, blast him.The sergeant drew his blaster at once and Dors, with a loud cry, lunged forward-but Seldon reached out for her and caught her by the elbow. He hung on desperately.Stay back, Dors, he shouted, or hell kill you. He wont kill me. You too, Raych. Stand back. Dont move.Seldon faced the sergeant. You hesitate, Sergeant, because you know you cannot shoot. I might have killed you ten days ago, but I did not. And you gave me your word of honor at that time that you would protect me.What are you waiting for? snapped Rashelle. I said shoot him down, Sergeant.Seldon said nothing more. He stood there while the sergean t, eyes bulging, held his blaster steady and pointed at Seldons head.You have your order shrieked Rashelle.I have your word, said Seldon quietly.And Sergeant Thalus said in a choked tone, Dishonored either way. His hand fell and his blaster clanged to the floor.Rashelle cried out, Then you too betray me. ahead Seldon could move or Dors free herself from his grip, Rashelle seized the blaster, turned it on the sergeant, and closed contact. Seldon had never seen anyone blasted before. Somehow, from the name of the weapon perhaps, he had expected a loud noise, an ebullition of flesh and blood. This Wyan blaster, at least, did nothing of the sort. What mangling it did to the organs inside the sergeants chest Seldon could not tell but, without a change in expression, without a wince of pain, the sergeant crumbled and fell, dead beyond any doubt or any hope.And Rashelle turned the blaster on Seldon with a firmness that put to rest any hope for his own life beyond the next second.It was Ra ych, however, who jumped into action the moment the sergeant fell. Racing between Seldon and Rashelle, he waved his hands wildly.Missus, Missus, he called. Dont shoot.For a moment, Rashelle looked confused. Out of the way, Raych. I dont want to hurt you.That moment of hesitation was all Dors needed. Breaking loose violently, she plunged toward Rashelle with a long low dive. Rashelle went down with a cry and the blaster hit the shew a second time.Raych retrieved it.Seldon, with a deep and shuddering breath, said, Raych, give that to me. But Raych backed away.Ya aint gonna kill her, are ya, Mister Seldon? She was nice to me.I wont kill anyone, Raych, said Seldon. She killed the sergeant and would have killed me, but she didnt shoot rather than hurt you and well let her live for that.It was Seldon, who now sat down, the blaster held loosely in his hand, while Dors removed the neuronal whip from the dead sergeants other holster.A new voice rang out. Ill take care of her now, Seldon.Se ldon looked up and in sudden joy said, Hummin FinallyIm sorry it took so long, Seldon. I had a lot to do. How are you, Dr. Venabili? I take it this is Mannixs daughter, Rashelle. But who is the boy?Raych is a young Dahlite friend of ours, said Seldon.Soldiers were entering and, at a small gesture from Hummin, they lifted Rashelle treasurefully.Dors, able to suspend her intent surveillance of the other woman, brushed at her clothes with her hands and smoothed her blouse. Seldon suddenly recognise that he was still in his bathrobe.Rashelle, shaking herself loose from the soldiers with contempt, pointed to Hummin and said to Seldon, Who is this?Seldon said, It is Chetter Hummin, a friend of mine and my protector on this planet.Your protector. Rashelle laughed madly. You fool You idiot That man is Demerzel and if you look at your Venabili woman, you will see from her face that she is perfectly aware of that. You have been trapped all along, far worse than ever you were with me90.Hummi n and Seldon sat at eat that day, quite alone, a pall of quiet between them for the most part. It was toward the end of the meal that Seldon stirred and said in a lively voice, Well, sir, how do I address you? I think of you as Chester Hummin still, but even if I accept you in your other persona, I surely cannot address you as Eto Demerzel. In that capacity, you have a title and I dont know the proper usage. Instruct me.The other said gravely, Call me Hummin-if you dont mind. Or Chetter. Yes, I am Eto Demerzel, but with respect to you I am Hummin. As a matter of fact, the two are not distinct. I told you that the Empire is decaying and failing. I believe that to be true in both my capacities. I told you that I wanted psychohistory as a way of preventing that decay and failure or of bringing about a renewal and reinvigoration if the decay and failure must run its course. I believe that in both my capacities too.But you had me in your grip-I presume you were in the vicinity when I ha d my meeting with His Imperial Majesty.With Cleon. Yes, of course.And you might have spoken to me, then, exactly as you later did as Hummin.And accomplished what? As Demerzel, I have enormous tasks. I have to finagle Cleon, a well-meaning but not very capable ruler, and prevent him, insofar as I can, from making mistakes. I have to do my present moment in governing Trantor and the Empire too. And, as you see, I had to spend a great deal of time in preventing Wye from doing harm.Yes, I know, murmured Seldon.It wasnt easy and I close lost out. I have spent years sparring carefully with Mannix, learning to understand his thinking and planning a countermove to his every move. I did not think, at any time, that while he was still alive he would pass on his powers to his daughter. I had not studied her and I was not prepared for her utter lack of caution. Unlike her father, she has been brought up to take power for granted and had no clear idea of its limitations. So she got you and fo rced me to act before I was quite ready.You almost lost me as a result. I faced the muzzle of a blaster twice.I know, said Hummin, nodding. And we might have lost you Upperside too-another accident I could not foresee.But you havent really answered my question. Why did you send me chasing all over the face of Trantor to escape from Demerzel when you yourself were Demerzel?You told Cleon that psychohistory was a purely theoretical concept, a kind of mathematical game that made no practical sense. That might indeed have been so, but if I approached you officially, I was sure you would just now have maintained your belief. Yet I was attracted to the notion of psychohistory. I wondered whether it might not be, after all, just a game. You must understand that I didnt want merely to use you, I wanted a real and practical psychohistory.So I sent you, as you put it, chasing all over the face of Trantor with the dreaded Demerzel close on your heels at all times. That, I felt, would concentr ate your mind powerfully. It would make psychohistory something exciting and much more than a mathematical game. You would try to work it out for the sincere idealist Hummin, where you would not for the Imperial flunky Demerzel. Also, you would get a glimpse of various sides of Trantor and that too would be face-saving-certainly more helpful than living in an ivory tower on a far-off planet, surrounded entirely by fellow mathematicians. Was I right? Have you made progress?Seldon said, In psychohistory? Yes, I did, Hummin. I thought you knew.How should I know?I told Dors.But you hadnt told me. Nevertheless, you tell me so now. That is good news.Not entirely, said Seldon. I have made only the barest beginning. But it is a beginning.Is it the kind of beginning that can be explained to a nonmathematician?I think so. You see, Hummin, from the start I have seen psychohistory as a science that depends on the interaction of cardinal million worlds, each with an average population of four thousand million. Its too much. Theres no way of handling something that complex. If I was to succeed at all, if there was to be any way of materializeing a useful psychohistory, I would first have to find a simpler system.So I thought I would go back in time and deal with a single world, a world that was the only one occupied by humanity in the dim age before the colonization of the Galaxy. In Mycogen they spoke of an original world of Aurora and in Dahl I heard word of an original world of Earth. I thought they might be the same world under different names, but they were sufficiently different in one key point, at least, to make that impossible. And it didnt matter. So little was known of either one, and that little so obscured by fiction and legend, that there was no hope of making use of psychohistory in connection with them.He paused to sip at his cold juice, keeping his eyes firmly on Hummins face.Hummin said, Well? What then?Meanwhile, Dors had told me something I call the h and-on-thigh story. It was of no innate significance, merely a humorous and entirely trivial tale. As a result, though, Dors mentioned the different sex mores on various worlds and in various sectors of Trantor. It occurred to me that she treated the different Trantorian sectors as though they were separate worlds. I thought, idly, that instead of twenty-five million different worlds, I had twenty-five million plus eight hundred to deal with. It seemed a trivial difference, so I forgot it and thought no more about it.But as I traveled from the Imperial Sector to Streeling to Mycogen to Dahl to Wye, I observed for myself how different each was. The thought of Trantor-not as a world but as a complex of worlds-grew stronger, but still I didnt see the crucial point.It was only when I listened to Rashelle-you see, it was good that I was finally captured by Wye and it was good that Rashelles rashness drove her into the grandiose schemes that she imparted to me-When I listened to Rashelle, as I said, she told me that all she wanted was Trantor and some immediately adjacent worlds. It was an Empire in itself, she said, and dismissed the outer(a) worlds as distant nothings.It was then that, in a moment, I saw what I must have been harboring in my hidden thoughts for a considerable time. On the one hand, Trantor possessed an extraordinarily complex social system, being a populous world made up of eight hundred smaller worlds. It was in itself a system complex enough to make psychohistory meaningful and yet it was simple enough, compared to the Empire as a whole, to make psychohistory perhaps practical.And the Outer Worlds, the twenty-five million of them? They were distant nothings. Of course, they affected Trantor and were affected by Trantor, but these were second-order effects. If I could make psychohistory work as a first approximation for Trantor alone, then the minor effects of the Outer Worlds could be added as later modifications. Do you see what I mean? I was s earching for a single world on which to establish a practical science of psychohistory and I was searching for it in the far past, when all the time the single world I wanted was under my feet now.Hummin said with obvious relief and pleasure, WonderfulBut its all left to do, Hummin. I must study Trantor in sufficient detail. I must plan the necessary mathematics to deal with it. If I am lucky and live out a full lifetime, I may have the answers before I die. If not, my successors will have to follow me. Conceivably, the Empire may have fallen and splintered before psychohistory becomes a useful technique.I will do everything I can to help you.I know it, said Seldon.You trust me, then, despite the fact I am Demerzel?Entirely. Absolutely. But I do so because you are not Demerzel.But I am, insisted Hummin.But you are not. Your persona as Demerzel is as far removed from the truth as is your persona as Hummin.What do you mean? Hummins eyes grew wide and he backed away slightly from Seld on.I mean that you probably chose the name Hummin out of a wry sense of what was fitting. Hummin is a mispronunciation of human, isnt it? Hummin made no response. He continued to stare at Seldon.And finally Seldon said, Because youre not human, are you, Hummin/Demerzel? Youre a robot.