Preference Indicators:
F: Fong (Proj Roderick)
T: Tarr (Proj Ripoff)
O: Neither (No Award)
| No. | Pref. | Rank | Ballot I | Ballot II | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| O | F/T | F | T | |||
| O | F | FTO | – | O | O | – |
| 3 | F | FOT | – | 3 | 3 | – |
| O | T | TFO | – | O | – | O |
| 6 | T | TOT | – | 6 | – | 6 |
| 5 | O | OFT | 5 | – | 5 | – |
| 1 | O | OTF | 1 | – | – | 1 |
15 Votes Total
| No Award | 6 |
| Fong | 8 |
| Tarr | 7 |
Today the stain on the door looked to Ben Franklin like a Portuguese man-o’-war. ‘You’re not going to let a little thing like that worry you, Christ, I wish he would take us to court. Laugh him off the faculty.’
Fong crunched an antacid tablet and blinked. ‘Tarr, no, he doesn’t worry me. Only it’s just one more little piece of aggravation…’
‘Relax, I’ve seen the printout on that too. Funny part is, if Tarr hadn’t trotted out his little project Ripoff — well-named — we would’ve lost, 12 to 3. Guess you could say the psychic world has done us a favour — okay, what is wrong?’
‘Thought Dan would’ve told you himself. I’d better — grrrp — wait, let… let him tell you himself.’
‘Yeah, wait.’ Franklin looked at the door again. Now it looked a little like a parachute, its shrouds unravelling as it descended. Funny how you could see almost anything…
‘Tell you one thing, I want some changes made around here. When we move, I want a whole new structure. No more of this prima donna act of his, this, well Dan, just talking about you. Lee says you’ve got some little problem.’
‘No problem.’ Dan closed the stained door and leaned against it. ‘I’m just leaving, that’s all.’
‘!’
‘I tried to talk him out of it, Ben. But if the kid wants to go—’
‘I don’t believe it! You — you want something? It isn’t enough that you’re the big star, you want something else? More power? No? Well then mind letting me in on the secret? What makes you want to walk out on four years of your life? Not to mention my life and Lee here, you plan to just waste four years of his life? Mind telling me why?’
‘Lots of reasons.’ Ben stared at the t-shirt (BE SPONTANEOUS!) waiting for him to go on. ‘For one thing it’s all wrong. Nothing turned out like I thought. See, when I joined the project I was still a kid, nineteen, how did I know what I was getting into? I thought, Wow, the first robot, the first alien intelligence on this planet, I couldn’t think of anything better, anything — specialler.
‘Only when it gets down to it maybe it’s not so special. It’s more like being wrong all the time, you know? And that’s just the work. See, I thought it would be like being part of a family, only just look at us: look at you, all you do is bitch and moan and worry about who’s got a better job, who’s the star player or something.’
‘I—’
‘See, you’re like a baby, Ben, you can’t read the books but you still want to chew on them.’
Franklin turned his blush away. ‘So it’s going to be personalities, is it? Because I’ve got a thing or two to say—’
‘Wait. Look, I’m, all I’m saying is this isn’t working out for you or for me or for anybody. And you, Lee, your stomach’s so bad you’ll have to retire early, just like Leo Bunsky — only he didn’t retire early enough. And when he died I just started wondering what this is, is it special after all? Is it special enough to die for?
‘And then Mary Mendez, was it special for her? Wandering around in that damned looney bin over there, asking everybody to please wind her up, is it worth that?’
Franklin lit a cigarette and held it ready to drop ash on the floor. ‘Doesn’t seem to have touched you, though, does it? I mean you’re still healthy. Still the same nasty little snotty-nose—’
‘Well I had scurvy last year but sure I’m okay physically. That’s not the point. The point is Roderick, is he okay? Is he, is he special? See, when people around me were dying or going nuts or getting bitchy or having ulcers I could always say, “All right, but it’s worth it, it’s special. It must be special because look, NASA, the United States government, is putting cash into this. They’re backing us a hundred per cent.” Only they weren’t.’
‘Now let me get this straight. You’re tired of the project first because you find out that people wear out, have accidents and break down — just like in any other job — and second because NASA doesn’t love us any more? Is that about it? Why, you pathetic little creep, is your ego so—’
‘Let me finish. It’s not just that they don’t love us, they hate us. Not just NASA but everybody. As soon as they find out what we’re doing, soon as they really understand what we’re doing, they’re out to get us.’