is yours. We give it to you."

Still they would not move.

"We give you the power of the sky!" we cried. "We give you the key to
the earth! Take it, and let us be one of you, the humblest among you.
Let us work together, and harness this power, and make it ease the toil
of men. Let us throw away our candles and our torches. Let us flood our
cities with light. Let us bring a new light to men!"

But they looked upon us, and suddenly we were afraid. For their eyes
were still, and small, and evil.

"Our brothers!" we cried. "Have you nothing to say to us?"

Then Collective 0-0009 moved forward. They moved to the table and the
others followed.

"Yes," spoke Collective 0-0009, "we have much to say to you."

The sound of their voice brought silence to the hall and to the beat of
our heart.

"Yes," said Collective 0-0009, "we have much to say to a wretch who have
broken all the laws and who boast of their infamy! How dared you think
that your mind held greater wisdom than the minds of your brothers? And
if the Council had decreed that you be a Street Sweeper, how dared
you think that you could be of greater use to men than in sweeping the
streets?"

"How dared you, gutter cleaner," spoke Fraternity 9-3452, "to hold
yourself as one alone and with the thoughts of one and not of many?"

"You shall be burned at the stake," said Democracy 4-6998.

"No, they shall be lashed," said Unanimity 7-3304, "till there is
nothing left under the lashes."

"No," said Collective 0-0009, "we cannot decide upon this, our brothers.
No such crime has ever been committed, and it is not for us to judge.
Nor for any small Council. We shall deliver this creature to the World
Council itself and let their will be done."

We looked upon them and we pleaded:

"Our brothers! You are right. Let the will of the Council be done upon
our body. We do not care. But the light? What will you do with the
light?"

Collective 0-0009 looked upon us, and they smiled.

"So you think you have found a new power," said Collective 0-0009. "Do
you think all your brothers think that?"

"No," we answered.

"What is not thought by all men cannot be true," said Collective 0-0009.

"You have worked on this alone?" asked International 1-5537.

"Yes," we answered.

"What is not done collectively cannot be good," said International
1-5537.

"Many men in the Homes of the Scholars have had strange new ideas in the
past," said Solidarity 8-1164, "but when the