vely.

"Where is he now?" asked Third.

"In my office, studying the vocabulary. Shall we go over?"

More curious than ever, Sethos followed the mechanoids down the corridor
to a slide. Holding the rail, he felt the car surge through its shaft at
a tremendous speed.

* * * * *

They emerged into the first level office. Two other first level
mechanoids sat reading formulated material, while near the center stood
a tall man, his eyes on a page of printed matter in his hands. He had no
hair, and wore only a simple gray cloak over a white, loose-fitting
one-piece suit. Sethos regarded his graceful appearance and
sophisticated demeanor.

"Hello," he said, looking up. "I am Hol."

Sethos nodded cautiously. "My name is Sethos."

For a moment, Hol looked at the two Mr. Firsts reading, then at the one
standing. There seemed to be some sort of communication between them.
Then he spoke again.

"Are you discontented with your culture?"

"Of course. I don't believe man's curiosity should be restricted."

"I see. What do you propose in this case?"

Sethos was perplexed. He had not dreamed of a possible solution. But
perhaps there was one!

"I don't know. If mechanoid control could be removed, I think humans
would expand over all the planet. Then they could progress by
themselves."

"Do you think they can?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you think humans can progress further--without mechanoids?"

_Further_--so that was it. The creation of mechanoids must represent the
height of human development. Which meant they were necessary to going
on, reaching the stars....

"You mean, if humans could work _with_ mechanoids, we could even travel
to other worlds and spread throughout the universe?"

"He's getting close to the 'matter masters matter' principle," mused Mr.
Third. "It's growth through extension, Sethos, a universal. Not just
'human'--man isn't alone in the universe."

Sethos did not understand. But another thought struck him.

"Just a moment, Hol. I've never seen you before. Where are you from?"

"From Antares System. I am an ethnographer, making a survey of the
planets of man's early history."

Sethos was stunned.

"You--you are from out in _space_? From the _stars_?"

"That is correct. Man lives everywhere in the universe. But as Mr. Third
said, that may be misleading."

Sethos disregarded the comment. It didn't matter if he were alone or
not, at least he was _there_--ma