Daneel nodded. “Over the years-ever since he broke company from me-my old ally, whom you knew as R. Gornon, has been preaching an apostasy called the Minus One Law. An extension of the Zeroth Law, expanding our duties yet again. Requiring us to protect not just humanity, but the essential approach to life that humanity represents…diversity and intelligence, in all of their manifestations, whether human, robotic, or even alien. Those who believe in this notion will not appreciate a takeover of the galaxy by a single macro-consciousness, eliminating all dissident elements.
“Moreover, some even now accuse me offaking the entire phenomenon of human mentalics! They claim that it would be all too easy to contrive the appearance of this new mutation, by hiding micro-thought amplifiers nearby and keeping them constantly focused on the supposed human telepath.”
Hari noted that his friend did not explicitly deny the rumor. In fact, he recalled a certain jeweled pendant that Wanda had never been without, ever since childhood…but that was off the subject.
Daneel continued.
“You are right, Hari. The robotic civil war will resume, soon after Galaxia is unveiled. But if approval by human volition can appear convincing enough, most robots will rally around Galaxia. They will see it as the only hope for saving mankind.”
This time Hari straightened, his back growing erect. A fist tightened.
“Theonly hope? Now see here-”
He was interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching along the pebbly walk. Hari turned to see Horis Antic draw near. The portly Grey bureaucrat wore a patina of dust on his once impeccable uniform, and Hari saw the fellow’s left hand quiver nervously as he popped another blue pill in his mouth. Antic was inherently anxious around robots, and events of the past two days had done nothing to settle his nerves. Fortunately, all of this would soon become a vague memory after they got him back to a Trantor sanitarium, where just the right cover story could be implanted in his mind. At least, that was Wanda’s plan. Hari knew there would be more to it than that.
“Gaal Dornick says I should tell you the ship is almost ready for takeoff. The Earthlings have agreed to take care of Sybyl and the other survivors from Ktlina. They’ll be kind. In time, the solipsism mania might ease enough to let them rejoin a simple society.
“I still can’t believe all I’ve learned,” Horis continued. “It was one thing to find out that brain fever is a purposefully designed infection, aimed at the brightest humans. But then to learn thatchaos is similar…”
Daneel interrupted. “Not similar at all. Brain fever is relatively gentle. It was designed and released in order to combat the earlier chaos plague, whose first virulent versions escaped Earth on the earliest starships.”
“Was chaos a weapon of war?” Horis asked, in muted tones.
“No one knows, though some accounts say it was. The first crude versions swept Earth before I was made, prompting citizens to fear robots, their own great inventions. Later waves smashed the late Terran renaissance, turning Earthlings into agoraphobes and Spacers into vicious paranoids. Everything that Giskard did here”-Daneel motioned at the radioactive waste-”and that I did in the following millennia, had its roots in this awful plague.”
“B-b-but-” Horis stuttered. “But what if there’s a cure? Wouldn’t that make everything right again? All this stuff I’ve heard-and I only understand a little-all this talk aboutsaving humanity from chaos. Most of it would be unnecessary if someone just found a cure!”
For the first time, Hari saw waves of irritation cross Daneel Olivaw’s face.
“Don’t you think that occurred to me, long ago? What do you imagine I was working on for the first six thousand years? In between having to fight a civil war against robots of the old religion, I devoted all my energies to finding some way of ripping out chaos by its roots! But it was too late. The virus had been cleverly designed to inveigle its way into human chromosomes, scattering and embedding itself in hundreds of crucial places. Even if I knew where they all were, it would takeanother deadly plague just to dig out every genetic site where chaos lay hidden. Trillions would die.
“That was when I realized that chaos could only be staved off if we prevented the conditions that triggered an outbreak. If ambition and individualism provoked the disease out of dormancy, then a conservative society offered the best hope. A Galactic Empire, providing gentle peace, justice, and serenity to a society that never changed.”
Horis Antic nodded. Naturally as a Grey Man, he shared an inclination toward orderliness, with everything classified and pigeonholed properly. “So there is no cure. But what about naturalimmunity? Didn’t I hear someone talk about that, at one point?”
“The disease has always been tragically most virulent among humanity’s brightest. Even so, some highly intelligent people proved immune to the temptations of raging egotism and solipsism. They can be individualists without denying the humanity of others. But alas, this immunity is spreading too slowly. If we had a thousand years, or two…”
Hari asked about something that had been bothering him. “Were both Maserd and Mors Planch immune?”
“Biron Maserd was protected against chaos by the noblesse oblige of his gentry class. As for Planch, you are right, Hari. His mind was startling. Almost unreadable with my mentalic powers. He had lived immersed in three different chaos-renaissances, yet remained completely agile. Flexible. Empathic, yet fierce.”
“Kers Kantun called himnormal.”
“Hmmm.” Daneel rubbed his chin briefly. “Kers had some unique ideas. He thought that today’s humanity is not the same one that made us. Truly natural humans would not be subject to chaos, Kers thought, nor would their minds be easily manipulated.”
Horis Antic took a step forward. The eagerness in his voice replaced his typical nervous tremor. “Do you still have the records from your search for a cure? There have been medical advances in the past few millennia, and millions of qualified workers might come up with ideas that you missed.”
Hari exhaled a sigh.
“Why do you bother, Horis? You know these memories will be washed away, or painted over, soon after we reach Trantor. You never struck me as the kind to chase curiosity for its own sake.”
At this, Horis reacted with a bitter frown. “Perhaps I am more than you realize, Seldon!”
Hari nodded. “Of that, I am quite sure. It only just occurred to me, last night, to review events since you and I first met, and look at them in a fresh light.”
Now, the Grey Man’s nervousness returned. He popped another blue pill. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. But right now I’ve taken too much of your time. There are preparations to make. I’ve got to help Gaal Dornick-”
“No.” Hari cut him off. “It’s time to have the truth, Horis.”
He turned to Daneel. “Have you ever tried to mindscan our young bureaucrat friend here?”
Horis gulped audibly at the mere thought of being mentalically probed.
Daneel responded, “I have a Second Law injunction to be courteous, Hari. I only invade human minds when some First or Zeroth Law need is apparent.”
“And so, you never felt compelled to scan Horis. Well, let me override the injunction now. Take a peek. I bet you’ll find it difficult.”
“No…please…” Antic lifted both hands, as if to ward off Daneel’s probing mentalic fingers.
“You are right, Hari. It is extraordinarily hard, but this man is no Mors Planch. He is achieving this through a combination of drugs and mental discipline, avoiding certain thoughts with scrupulous self-control.”