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that our progress would be measured.
Have you ever considered the fact, Derec, that you were brought here
and I m excess baggage? she asked.
He walked slowly through the room. It was designed for someone to
live in. There were easy chairs and a couch that converted to abed.
Not city-robot material, but real furniture. There was even a plant of
some kind under its own growth light. That told Derec that whoever
kept this office returned at least often enough to keep the plant
watered.
I ve considered a great many things, Derec told her, including the
scenario you ve just outlined. But there are several things to consider.
I believe our meeting on Aranimas s ship was accidental. The
situation was too dangerous and uncontrollable to be otherwise, our
injuries too real. But consider the facts that you admit to having
known me previously by another name and that that name just
happens to belong to someone who looked enough like me to be my
twin. It s a large universe, Katherine. That s an awful lot of
coincidence. Let me ask you something. Have you ever considered the
possibility that the David you knew could be the one lying dead in that
sealed room, and that I m somebody else?
Her face became confused, lips sputtering. I I . . .
Then she started to say something and stopped. Derec would have
given a fortune, ten fortunes, to know the thoughts that had been
running through her mind that second before she shut herself up.
What are you hiding from me? he asked loudly, in frustration.
Her face was a mixture of pain and longing. She responded by
solidifying, as she had done so many times since they d met on
Aranimas s ship. There s nothing up here for me, she said. I m
going back down with the robots. Join us quickly. We have other work
to do.
Then she turned and departed without a backward glance, leaving
Derec angry again. He could feel so close to her, and so far away.
There was never any mid-point with Katherine; it was all one way or
the other.
He decided to inspect the office methodically, rather than simply
tearing furiously into things, which had been his strongest desire.
Starting on the outer edges of the room, he traversed it slowly, saving
the plum of the desk for last.
He found a small, air-tight shelf full of tapes, all marked
Philosophy, then broken down according to planet. Nearly all of the
fifty-five Spacer worlds were represented. They weren t of interest to
him at the moment, but a perusal in future wasn t out of the question.
He continued his walk of the outer perimeter, his hand finding the
ladder where his eyes couldn t. It was a metal ladder, set against the
screen and lost in shadows. Even knowing it was there, he still found
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it difficult to see. It went up from the floor and stopped at the flat
ceiling.
He climbed it until he reached the ceiling screen. There was no reason
at all for this ladder to exist unless it went somewhere. Gingerly, he
reached out and touched the ceiling screen above the ladder. It gave
easily on well-oiled hinges, flapping open to reveal real sky.
He moved up through the trap door to find himself standing on the
platform where he had materialized. Amazing. He began to put
together a theory. Whoever started this civilization, whoever s arm it
was that turned on 1-1, with proper use of a Key to Perihelion, could
materialize on Robot City at will, move down into the off-limits office
and observe his city s progress without ever being seen. When he was
through, he could leave by the same means.
So, the city had an overseer, a guardian, who had apparently brought
Derec here to sweeten the mix with the human ingredient. Why
Derec? That question, he couldn t answer.
He wondered if the overseer had been present during his and
Katherine s stay, if he had been watching them, perhaps all the way
up to the moment they opened the office door. It would be simple
enough for him to get away. All he d need was the Key and a few
seconds time.
Derec climbed back into the office and closed the trap door behind
him, once again sealing in the illusion completely.
He continued his tour of the office by emptying the small trash can
that sat by the desk. The trash can held several empty containers that
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