“If that is Mark Forer,” he said, “then Mark Forer is a robot.”

“No, not a robot,” Grene corrected him. “An intelligent machine. One of the very first machine intelligences as history tells us. Mark Oner had communication interface problems that were only partially eliminated in Mark Tooer…”

“Mark four,” I said. “The fourth machine to be made.”

“M

L·-u tiMM~AuMM

HaiTY niMilMMl

“That is correct. The first absolutely successful machine intelligence. What a wonderful day for the human race it was when Mark Forer was first switched on. Among those present at that dramatic moment was a then young scientist named Tod E’Bouy. He recorded the event in a book entitled “An Historical Treatise concerning Certain Observations in the Construction of Artificial Intelligence” subtitled “Galvanized Knowledge.”

Stimer rose from his seat while she was speaking. Went to the bookshelf and took down a slim volume, opened it and read.

“ ‘A lifetime of research, generations oflalaor, had reached a final and dramatic culmination. The last circuit board was slipped into its slot and I threw the switch. What a prosaic thing to say about what was perhaps the most important moment in the entire history of mankind. I threw the switch, the operation light came on. We no longer were alone. There was another intelligence in the universe to stand beside that of ours.

“ ‘We waited as the operating system carried out all of its checks. Then the screen lit up and we read these historical words:

“ 1 AM. THEREFORE I THINK.’ ”

He closed the book in reverent silence. It was like being in church. Well, why not. There have been a number of strange deities worshipped in the long history of mankind. So why not a machine? I sipped my drink and, since no one was speaking, decided to slip in a question.

“You have no military—and no police. That sounds like a good idea to me, since I have had more than a little trouble with both. But what do you do then with law-breakers?”

“We have no laws to break,” Stimer said, and there was a brisk round of head-nodding at this. “I am sure that you will have been taught that laws are the product of the wisdom of your ancestors. We believe differently. Laws are not a product of their wisdom but are the product of their passions, their timidity, their jealousies and their ambition. It is all recorded here in a volume that you must read, the history of an idea.”

He pointed to another book that was instantly plucked from the shelf by our host, who pressed it upon us. “Take my copy, please, a great pleasure.”

“Thank you, thank you,” I said with what I hoped was sincerity as I hefted its weight. I peeked at a page and tried to keep the smile on my face. As I had feared, it was set in very small type.

“You will read for yourself,” Stimer said, “but our history can be summed up simply. Mark Forer was questioned on many subjects and its vast and different intelligence was utilized in many commercial and scientific ways. It was not until if was queried about political systems that its advice was doubted. Before it could comment it absorbed all of the political writings of the centuries, and the histories, and the commentaries on this material. This took months, years they say. After that Mark Forer weighed and considered the material for an even longer period. During this period it composed the book that you see there and loaded it into RAM. By this time Mark Forer had learned a good deal about the human race through their politics, so therefore took a wise precaution. It accessed all of the data banks and downloaded this book from memory into each of them, and into every electronic mail service as well. Mark Forer later apologized to all of the recipients of this rather t~ick voJume and offered to pay printing costs.

“But he had been correct in his fears. Not one politician in any country, on any planet, agreed with his theories. In fact efforts were made to denounce Individual Mutualism and all who believed in it—as many did. Because, in his wisdom, Mark Forer knew that while established governments would reject his philosophy, intelligent individuals would read and understand and believe. How wise this wise machine was! Those individuals who were intelligent enough to understand the philosophy were also intelligent enough to see its inherent truth. They also understood that they would have to find a place of their own to practice what they now believed in. Mark Forer wrote that the wise do not give up their liberty to the state. The converse is also true; the state does not voluntarily relinquish its hold on its citizens.

“There were years of struggle and flight, persecution and betrayal. Much of the record was destroyed by those who were jealous of our freedoms. In the end those who believed came here, beyond the contact of other worlds, to build a society where Individual Mutualism, IM, was the norm, where peace and happiness could prevail forever.”

”

“Or at least until you got invaded by Nevenkebia,” I gloomed. Stirner laughed at my expression.

“Do not despair, my friend, for we do not. The first shock of their arrival has disturbed us, as well it might after our peace of centuries. But we have the courage of our beliefs and know that they and IM will survive this test. If they do, then perhaps we have justified our faith in Mark Forer and, more important, can now perhaps show our gratitude by taking our beliefs to other, less happy > planets.”

“I would wait awhile before I started doing that! There are a lot of hard cases out there who would love to eat your people alive. Suffice for the moment getting these military morons off your neck. And, I hate to ask you people for more aid, but I have been kicked about by professionals and wonder if you have any painkillers in the house?”

I closed my eyes to rest them for a moment and it worked because when I opened them again I felt in perfect shape. It was also dark outside the curtains and a stranger was bent over me having just given me an injection.

“You passed out,” Morton said. “You got everyone worried and they sent for Doctor Lum here who is pretty good.”

“Mild concussion,” the doctor said. “Two broken ribs which I have immobilized. I have given you pain reliev-

ers. And a stimulant now since I was told you wished to travel this evening. I can neutralize it if you wish.” I sprang to my feet and flexed my muscles. I felt fine. “No way, doctor. You have treated me in a manner I would have chosen, had I been conscious to choose it. How long before the drugs wear off?"

“Do not be concerned about that. I will be staying with you until you are well.”

“But you don’t understand. I have to move fast, hide, do things that may take a long time.”

Lum smiled. “I am afraid it is you who misunderstood me. I shall be at your side as long as you have need of me. All of us, everyone on this planet, will give you any aid you may need.”

“Is that what IM is all about?”

“Exactly. What do we do next?”

“Walk. No transportation. The military has all the instrumentation for spotting machines on the move.”

“What about detecting people?” Stimer asked. “Surely their technology must encompass that concept.”

“It does. But the human body is an indifferent heat source and hard to tell from that of other animals.”

“As is one individual difficult to tell from another,” the doctor said with medical intuition. “If we intend to walk in one direction wouldn’t it be wise to have a number of people walking in a number of directions?”

“It certainly would,” I said, finally beginning to catch on to how these people worked together. “How can you pass the word?”

“Easily enough. I’ll just step out into the street and tell the first person I see. When that is done we can leave.”

“Will we reach the dam before dawn?” I asked Stimer.