[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
"No," said Paul, "it's all right,Jase . The Guild will go to you. My job is
something different."
They stared at him.
"Something different?" asked Blunt, dryly. "What is ityou think you're going
to do?"
Paul smiled at him and at the others a little sadly.
"Something brutal and unfair to you all," he said. "I'm going to do nothing."
Chapter 22
For a moment they merely looked back at him. But in that moment something
inevitable, and not at all unique, happened. It has taken place before at
gatherings that those present arrange themselves in a social pattern oriented
around the strong point of one individual present. Then, something is said or
something takes place. And suddenly, though none present have made an actual
movement, the strong point is displaced to a different individual. The pattern
reorients itself, and though nothing physical has happened, the emotional
effect of the reorientation is felt by everyone in the room.
So with Paul, at that moment.He had reached out and touched the pattern, and
like one drop melting into another, abruptly he was the focus for the
emotional relationships in the room, where Blunt had been, a moment before.
He metBlunt's eyes across the little distance that separated them. And Blunt
looked back, without expression, and without speaking. He leaned still on his
cane, as if nothing had taken place. But Paul felt the sudden massive
alertness ofBlunt's genius swinging to bear completely on him, in the
beginnings ofa recognition of what Paul was.
"Nothing?" askedJase , breaking the silence. Sudden alarm for the Chantry
Guild, in this breakdown of what-everBlunt had planned for it, was obvious
uponJase , obvious even to others in the room besides Paul.
"Because," said Paul, "if I do nothing, you'll all go your separate ways. The
Chantry Guild will continue and grow. The technical elements in civilization
will continue and grow. So will the marching societies and the cult groups.
So" Paul's eyes, ranging backward in the room, met for a moment with Burton
McLeod's "will other elements."
"You want that to happen?" challengedTyne ."You?"
"I think it's necessary," said Paul, turning to the World Engineer. "The time
has come when mankind must fragment so that his various facets may develop
fully and unaffected by other facets nearby. As you yourself know, the process
has already started." Paul looked over at Blunt. "A single strong leader,"
said Paul, "could halt this process temporarily only temporarily, because
there would be no one of his stature to replace him when he was dead but even
in temporarily halting it, he could do permanent damage to later development
of fragments he didn't favor."
Paul looked back at Kirk. There was something like horror on Kirk's face.
Page 99
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"But you're saying you'reagainst Walt!" stammered Kirk. "You've been against
him all along."
"Perhaps," said Paul, a little unhappily, "in a sense. It'd be kinder to say
that I haven't beenfor anyone, including Walt."
Kirk stared at him for a moment, still with an expression varying from shock
almost to repugnance.
"Butwhy ?"Kirk burst out finally. "Why?"
"That," said Paul, "is a little hard to explain, I'm afraid. Perhaps you
might understand it if I used hypnosis as an example. After Walt first brought
that last body of mine to consciousness, I had quite a period in which I
didn't really know who I was. But a number of things used to puzzle me.Among
them the fact that I couldn't be hypnotized."
"The Alternate Laws " beganJase , from back in the room.
"No," said Paul. "I think someday you Chantry people are going to discover
something to which your Alternate Laws bear the same relation alchemy does to
modern chemistry. I couldn't be hypnotized because the lightest form of
hypnosis requires the giving up of a certain portion of the identity, just as
does really complete unconsciousness, and this is impossible to me." He looked
around at all of them. "Because, having experienced a shared identity with
Walt, it was inevitable that I should come to the capability of sharing the
identity of any other human with whom I came in contact."
They all looked back at him. With the exception of Blunt, he saw, they had
not fully understood.
"I'm talking about understanding," he said, patiently. "I've been able to
share identities with all of you, and what I've found is that each one of you
projects a valid form of the future of human society. But a form in which the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl szkicerysunki.xlx.pl
"No," said Paul, "it's all right,Jase . The Guild will go to you. My job is
something different."
They stared at him.
"Something different?" asked Blunt, dryly. "What is ityou think you're going
to do?"
Paul smiled at him and at the others a little sadly.
"Something brutal and unfair to you all," he said. "I'm going to do nothing."
Chapter 22
For a moment they merely looked back at him. But in that moment something
inevitable, and not at all unique, happened. It has taken place before at
gatherings that those present arrange themselves in a social pattern oriented
around the strong point of one individual present. Then, something is said or
something takes place. And suddenly, though none present have made an actual
movement, the strong point is displaced to a different individual. The pattern
reorients itself, and though nothing physical has happened, the emotional
effect of the reorientation is felt by everyone in the room.
So with Paul, at that moment.He had reached out and touched the pattern, and
like one drop melting into another, abruptly he was the focus for the
emotional relationships in the room, where Blunt had been, a moment before.
He metBlunt's eyes across the little distance that separated them. And Blunt
looked back, without expression, and without speaking. He leaned still on his
cane, as if nothing had taken place. But Paul felt the sudden massive
alertness ofBlunt's genius swinging to bear completely on him, in the
beginnings ofa recognition of what Paul was.
"Nothing?" askedJase , breaking the silence. Sudden alarm for the Chantry
Guild, in this breakdown of what-everBlunt had planned for it, was obvious
uponJase , obvious even to others in the room besides Paul.
"Because," said Paul, "if I do nothing, you'll all go your separate ways. The
Chantry Guild will continue and grow. The technical elements in civilization
will continue and grow. So will the marching societies and the cult groups.
So" Paul's eyes, ranging backward in the room, met for a moment with Burton
McLeod's "will other elements."
"You want that to happen?" challengedTyne ."You?"
"I think it's necessary," said Paul, turning to the World Engineer. "The time
has come when mankind must fragment so that his various facets may develop
fully and unaffected by other facets nearby. As you yourself know, the process
has already started." Paul looked over at Blunt. "A single strong leader,"
said Paul, "could halt this process temporarily only temporarily, because
there would be no one of his stature to replace him when he was dead but even
in temporarily halting it, he could do permanent damage to later development
of fragments he didn't favor."
Paul looked back at Kirk. There was something like horror on Kirk's face.
Page 99
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"But you're saying you'reagainst Walt!" stammered Kirk. "You've been against
him all along."
"Perhaps," said Paul, a little unhappily, "in a sense. It'd be kinder to say
that I haven't beenfor anyone, including Walt."
Kirk stared at him for a moment, still with an expression varying from shock
almost to repugnance.
"Butwhy ?"Kirk burst out finally. "Why?"
"That," said Paul, "is a little hard to explain, I'm afraid. Perhaps you
might understand it if I used hypnosis as an example. After Walt first brought
that last body of mine to consciousness, I had quite a period in which I
didn't really know who I was. But a number of things used to puzzle me.Among
them the fact that I couldn't be hypnotized."
"The Alternate Laws " beganJase , from back in the room.
"No," said Paul. "I think someday you Chantry people are going to discover
something to which your Alternate Laws bear the same relation alchemy does to
modern chemistry. I couldn't be hypnotized because the lightest form of
hypnosis requires the giving up of a certain portion of the identity, just as
does really complete unconsciousness, and this is impossible to me." He looked
around at all of them. "Because, having experienced a shared identity with
Walt, it was inevitable that I should come to the capability of sharing the
identity of any other human with whom I came in contact."
They all looked back at him. With the exception of Blunt, he saw, they had
not fully understood.
"I'm talking about understanding," he said, patiently. "I've been able to
share identities with all of you, and what I've found is that each one of you
projects a valid form of the future of human society. But a form in which the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]