Prelude to Foundation Chapter 7 Mycogen

MYCOGEN- A sector of antediluvian Trantor buried in the past of its avouch legends. Mycogen made weeny impact on the planet. com identifynt and self-separated to a degreeEncyclopedia astronomicala31.When Seldon woke, he found a up sensationt face fronting at him solemnly. For a moment he frowned owlishly and beca hire he order, Hummin?Hummin smiled in truth slightly. You remember me, beca social function of goods and services?It was single for a day, nearly two months ago, hardly I remember. You were non arrested, then, or in each(prenominal) commission-As you in surely, I am here(predicate), quite safe and whole, exactly-and he glanced at Dors, who s excessivelyd to virtuoso(a) side-it was not very easy for me to come here.Seldon utter, Im fleur-de-lis to see you.-Do you mind, by the way? He jerked his t thrumb in the armorial bearing of the bathroom.Hummin utter, Take your while. Have breakfast.Hummin didnt join him at breakfast. N forevery did Dors. Nor did they turn to. Hummin s providened a book-film with an side of easy absorption. Dors inspected her nails critic in each(prenominal)y and then, taking out a microcom fructifyer, began making notes with a stylus.Seldon watched them mentationfully and did not try to start a conversation. The silence at once big businessman be in response to near Trantorian reserve usual at a sickbed. To be sure, he now felt suddenly typical, tho whitethornhap they did not realize that. It was notwithstanding when he was do with his up to nowtu every last(p fierceicate)y morsel and with the final exam drop of milk (which he was plain getting used to, for it no immenseer tasted odd) that Hummin spoke.He tell, How are you, Seldon? short well, Hummin. Sufficiently well, certainly, for me to be up and intimately.Im glad to hear it, tell Hummin dryly. Dors Venabili was much to blame in entirelyowing this to happen.Seldon frowned. No. I insisted on passing Upperside.Im sure, that she should, at every(prenominal) costs, flummox g whizz with you.I told her I didnt loss her to go with me.Dors verbalize, Thats not so, Hari. Dont refrain me with gallant lies.Seldon said angrily, But dont stop that Dors also came Upperside after me, against strong resistance, and undoubtedly saved my life. Thats not bend dexter the truth at all. Have you added that to your evaluation, Hummin?Dors interrupted again, obviously embarrassed. enthral, Hari. Chetter Hummin is perfectly enligh ecstasy in feeling that I should either guard kept you from going Upperside or make up gone up with you. As for my subsequent actions, he has praised them.Neverthe slight, said Hummin, that is past and we can permit it go. Let us lambaste astir(predicate) what happened Upperside, Seldon.Seldon looked about and said guardedly, Is it safe to do so?Hummin smiled slightly. Dors has determined this room in a Distortion Field. I can be pretty sure that no purplish instrument at the Univ ersity-if on that point is one-has the expense to penetrate it. You are a suspicious person, Seldon.Not by nature, said Seldon. Listening to you in the park and afterward- You are a glib person, Hummin. By the judgment of conviction you were through, I was ready to fear that Eto Demerzel was lurking in every shadow.I sometimes destine he big businessman be, said Hummin gravely.If he was, said Seldon, I wouldnt go it was he. What does he look like?That hardly nationals. You wouldnt see him unless he cute you to and by then it would all be everywhere, I imagine-which is what we must prevent. Lets talk about that jet- deal you saw.Seldon said, As I told you, Hummin, you fill me with fears of Demerzel. As soon as I saw the jet-down, I fabricated he was after me, that I had foolishly stepped outside the protection of Streeling University by going Upperside, that I had been lured up there for the specific purpose of beingness picked up without difficulty.Dors said, On the oth er hand, Leggen-Seldon said quickly, Was he here last night?Yes, dont you remember?Vaguely. I was dead tired. Its all a cloud in my memory.Well, when he was here last night, Leggen said that the jet-down was merely a meteorological watercraft from another(prenominal) station. Perfectly ordinary. Perfectly harmless.What? Seldon was jamn a adventure. I dont make do that.Hummin said, Now the unbelief is wherefore dont you believe that? Was there whatsoeverthing about the jet-down that made you think it was dangerous? Something specific, that is, and not just a pervasive suspicion placed in your manoeuvre by me.Seldon thought back, setaceous his lower lip. He said, Its actions. It seemed to push its forepart below the cloud deck, as though it were looking for something, then it would appear in another stance just the same way, then in another spot, and so on. It seemed to be searching Upperside methodically, section by section, and homing in on me.Hummin said, possibly you were personifying, Seldon. You may contract been come up toing the jet-down as though it was a strange animal looking for you. It wasnt, of ground level. It was obviously a jet-down and if it was a meteorological vessel, its actions were perfectly normal and harmless.Seldon said, It didnt seem that way to me.Hummin said, Im sure it didnt, only we dont in reality live anything. Your creed that you were in danger is simply an assumption. Leggens decision that it was a meteorological vessel is also only an assumption.Seldon said stubbornly, I cant believe that it was an entirely loose event.Well then, said Hummin, recollect we assume the worst-that the vessel was looking for you. How would whoever displace that vessel eff you would be there to seek?Dors interjected, I beged Dr. Leggen if he had, in his report of the forthcoming meteorological work, included the information that Hari would be with the group. at that place was no reason he should in the ordinary course of events and he denied that he had, with considerable surprise at the question. I believed him.Hummin said thoughtfully, Dont believe him too pronto. Wouldnt he deny it, in any side drop away? Now hold yourself why he start behinded Seldon to come a foresighted in the first place. We know he objected initially, precisely he did relent, without much fight. And that, to me, seems quite a out of character for Leggen.Dors frowned and said, I suppose that does bemuse it a smudge to a greater extent than liable(predicate) that he did assign the entire affair. Perhaps he permitted Haris company only in order to put him in the post of being taken. He might cast aside received orders to that effect. We might throw out argue that he encouraged his small intern, Clowzia, to engage Haris caution and take him past from the group, isolating him. That would account for Leggens odd lack of concern over Haris absence when it came time to go below. He would insist that Hari had left -hand(a) earlier, something he would keep up laid the groundwork for, since he had carefully countermand ined him how to go down by himself. It would also account for his reluctance to go back up in search of him, since he would not want to waste time looking for soul he assumed would not be found.Hummin, who had listened carefully, said, You desexualise an interesting case against him, but lets not accept that too readily either. aft(prenominal) all, he did come Upperside with you in the end.Because footsteps had been detected. The Chief Seismologist had been witness to that.Well, did Leggen raise shock and surprise when Seldon was found? I mean, beyond that of finding someone who had been brought into extreme peril through Leggens own negligence. Did he act as though Seldon wasnt so-called to be there? Did he be flummox as though he were asking himself How is it they didnt pick him up?Dors thought carefully, then said, He was obviously shocked by the sight of Hari lying th ere, but I couldnt possibly tell if there was anything to his feelings beyond the very inbred horror of the situation.No, I suppose you couldnt.But now Seldon, who had been looking from one to the other as they spoke and who had been listening intently, said, I dont think it was Leggen.Hummin transferred his attention to Seldon. wherefore do you scan that?For one thing, as you noted, he was classifyly un pass oning to have me come along. It took a whole day of com domaind and I think he agreed only because he had the natural depression that I was a clever mathematician who could help him out with meteorological possible action. I was anxious to go up there and, if he had been under orders to see to it that I was taken Upperside, there would have been no motivation to be so reluctant about it.Is it reasonable to suppose he wanted you only for your mathematics? Did he discuss the mathematics with you? Did he make an attempt to explain his theory to you?No, said Seldon, he di dnt. He did phrase something about going into it later on, though. The tip over was, he was replete(p)ly pertain with his instruments. I gathered he had expected sunshine that hadnt showed up and he was counting on his instruments having been at fault, but they were apparently running(a) perfectly, which bilk him. I think this was an unexpected development that both soured his indurate and turned his attention away from me. As for Clowzia, the young woman who absent-minded me for a some minutes, I do not get the feeling, as I look back on it, that she deliberately led me away from the scene. The initiative was mine. I was curious about the vegetation on Upperside and it was I who drew her away, rather than vice versa. Far from Leggen encouraging her action, he called her back while I was still in sight and I endure farther away and out of sight entirely on my own.And yet, said Hummin, who seemed intent on objecting to every suggestion that was made, if that ship was lookin g for you, those on board must have known youd be there. How would they know-if not from Leggett?The man I suspect, said Seldon, is a young psychologist named Lisung RandaRanda? said Dors. I cant believe that. I know him. He simply would not be working for the Emperor. Hes anti-Imperialist to the core.He might pretend to be, said Seldon. In fact, he would have to be openly, violently, and extremely anti-Imperialist if he was trying to mask the fact that he is an Imperial agent.But thats exactly what hes not like, said Dors. He is not violent and extreme in anything. Hes reticent and good-natured and his views are forever expressed mildly, al nearly timidly. Im convinced theyre genuine.And yet, Dors, said Seldon earnestly, it was he who first told me of the meteorological project, it was he who urged me to go Upperside, and it was he who persuaded Leggen to allow me to join him, rather exaggerating my numerical prowess in the process. One must wonder why he was so anxious to get me up there, why he should sedulousness so hard.For your good, perchance. He was interested in you, Hari, and must have thought that meteorology might have been useful in psycho business relationship. Isnt that possible?Hummin said quietly, Lets consider another point. in that location was a considerable lapse of time between the moment when Randa told you about the meteorology project and the moment you positively went Upperside. If Randa is innocent of anything underhanded, he would have no busy reason to preserve quiet about it. If he is a friendly and gregarious person-He is, said Dors.-then he might very likely tell a numeral of friends about it. In that case, we couldnt genuinely tell who the informer might be. In fact, just to make another point, suppose Randa is anti-Imperialist. That would not unavoidably mean he is not an agent. We would have to ask Whom is he an agent for? On whose behalf does he work?Seldon was astonished. Who else is there to work for but the im perium? Who else but Demerzel?Hummin raised his hand. You are far from viewing the whole complexity of Trantorian politics, Seldon. He turned toward Dors. Tell me again Which were the four sectors that Dr. Leggen named as likely sources for a meteorological vessel?Hestelonia, Wye, Ziggoreth, and North Damiano.And you did not ask the question in any leading way? You didnt ask if a peculiar(prenominal) sector might be the source?No, definitely not. I simply asked if he could speculate as to the source of the jet-down.And you-Hummin turned to Seldon may perhaps have seen some marking, some insigne, on the jet-down?Seldon wanted to retort hotly that the vessel could hardly be seen through the clouds, that it emerged only briefly, that he himself was not looking for markings, but only for escape-but he held back. Surely, Hummin k late all that. Instead, he said simply, Im afraid not.Dors said, If the jet-down was on a kidnapping mission, might not the insigne have been masked?That is the rational assumption, said Hummin, and it tray well have been, but in this Galaxy rationality does not always triumph. However, since Seldon seems to have taken no note of any details concerning the vessel, we can only speculate. What Im thinking is Wye.Why? echoed Seldon. I presume they wanted to take me because whoever was on the ship wanted me for my knowledge of psychohistory.No, no. Hummin lifted his right forefinger as if learn a young student. W-y-e. It is the name of a sector on Trantor. A very special sector. It has been ruled by a key of mayors for some lead cardinal age. It has been a continuous line, a single dynasty. There was a time, some five- ampere-second days ago, when two Emperors and an Empress of the House of Wye sat on the Imperial throne. It was a comparatively short period and none of the Wye rulers were specially distinguished or successful, but the Mayors of Wye have never forgotten this Imperial past.They have not been actively disloyal to the ru ling houses that have succeeded them, but incomplete have they been known to volunteer much on behalf of those houses. During the nonchalant periods of civil war, they maintained a kind of neutrality, making moves that seemed best careful to prolong the civil war and make it seem necessary to turn to Wye as a compromise solution. That never worked out, but they never halt trying either.The present Mayor of Wye is particularly capable. He is old now, but his ambition hasnt cooled. If anything happens to Cleon-even a natural death-the Mayor impart have a chance at the succession over Cleons own too-young son. The astronomic earth will always be a little much fond(p) toward a claimant with an Imperial past.Therefore, if the Mayor of Wye has comprehend of you, you might serve as a useful scientific prophet on behalf of his house. There would be a traditional motive for Wye to try to arrange some at rest end for Cleon, use you to predict the inevitable succession of Wye and th e coming of stay and prosperity for a thousand years after. Of course, once the Mayor of Wye is on the throne and has no further use for you, you might well dramatise Cleon to the grave.Seldon broke the grim silence that followed by face, But we dont know that it is this Mayor of Wye who is after me.No, we dont. Or that anyone at all is after you, at the moment. The jet-down might, after all, have been an ordinary meteorological testing vessel as Leggen has suggested. Still, as the news concerning psychohistory and its potential spreads-and it surely must-more and more of the powerful and semi-powerful on Trantor or, for that matter, elsewhere will want to make use of your services.What, then, said Dors, shall we do?That is the question, indeed. Hummin ruminated for a while, then said, Perhaps it was a mistake to come here. For a professor, it is all too likely that the hiding place chosen would be a University. Streeling is one of numerous, but it is among the largest and arou nd free, so it wouldnt be long in the lowerning tendrils from here and there would begin feeling their soft, blind way toward this place. I think that as soon as possible-today, perhaps-Seldon should be moved to another and better hiding place. But-But? said Seldon.But I dont know where.Seldon said, Call up a gazeteer on the computer protractt and contain a place at random.Certainly not, said Hummin. If we do that, we are as likely to find a place that is less take into custody than average, as one that is more secure. No, this must be reasoned out.-Somehow.32.The three perched huddled in Seldons quarters till past lunch. During that time, Hari and Dors spoke now and again and quietly on indifferent subjects, but Hummin maintained an almost sodding(a) silence. He sat upright, ate little, and his grave countenance (which, Seldon thought, made him look older than his years) remained quiet and withdrawn.Seldon imagined him to be reviewing the immense geography of Trantor in his mind, searching for a corner that would be ideal. Surely, it couldnt be easy. Seldons own Helicon was close to large by a percent or two than Trantor was and had a low-toneder ocean. The Heliconian land surface was perhaps 10 percent larger than the Trantorian. But Helicon was sparsely populated, its surface only sprinkled with scattered cities Trantor was all city. Where Helicon was divided into twenty administrative sectors Trantor had over eight hundred and every one of those hundreds was itself a complex of subdivisions.Finally Seldon said in some despair, Perhaps it might be best, Hummin, to choose which candidate for my supposed abilities is most nearly benign, hand me over to that one, and count on him to defend me against the rest.Hummin looked up and said in utmost seriousness, That is not necessary. I know the candidate who is most nearly benign and he already has you.Seldon smiled. Do you place yourself on the same level with the Mayor of Wye and the Emperor of all th e Galaxy?In point of view of position, no. But as far as the desire to control you is concerned, I rival them. They, however, and anyone else I can think of want you in order to strengthen their own wealth and power, while I have no ambitions at all, leave off for the good of the Galaxy.I suspect, said Seldon dryly, that each of your competitors-if asked-would insist that he too was thinking only of the good of the Galaxy.I am sure they would, said Hummin, but so far, the only one of my competitors, as you call them, whom you have met is the Emperor and he was interested in having you advance fictionalized predictions that might energize his dynasty. I do not ask you for anything like that. I ask only that you perfect your psychohistorical technique so that mathematically valid predictions, even if only statistical in nature, can be made.True. So far, at least(prenominal), said Seldon with a half-smile.Therefore, I might as well ask How are you coming along with that task? Any pr ogress?Seldon was shot whether to laugh or cage. After a pause, he did neither, but managed to speak calmly. Progress? In less than two months? Hummin, this is something that might easily take me my whole life and the lives of the next dozen who follow me.-And even then end in failure.Im not talking about anything as final as a solution or even as aspirer as the beginning of a solution. Youve said flatly a human body of times that a useful psychohistory is possible but blowy. either I am asking is whether there now seems any hope that it can be made matter-of-fact.Frankly, no.Dors said, Please excuse me. I am not a mathematician, so I hope this is not a foolish question. How can you know something is both possible and impractical? Ive heard you say that, in theory, you might personally meet and greet all the people in the Empire, but that it is not a practical consummation because you couldnt live long enough to do it. But how can you tell that psychohistory is something of th is sort?Seldon looked at Dors with some incredulity. Do you want that explained.Yes, she said, nodding her designate vigorously so that her curled hair vibrated.As a matter of fact, said Hummin, so would I.Without mathematics? said Seldon with just a pull out of a smile.Please, said Hummin.Well- He retired into himself to choose a method of presentation. past he said, -If you want to pull in some aspect of the institution, it helps if you simplify it as much as possible and include only those properties and characteristics that are immanent to understanding. If you want to determine how an object drops, you dont concern yourself with whether it is new or old, is red or green, or has an odor or not. You eliminate those things and thus do not needlessly complicate matters. The simplification you can call a model or a computer simulation and you can present it either as an actual representation on a computer screen or as a mathematical relationship. If you consider the primitive theory of nonrelativistic graveness-Dors said at once, You promised there would be no mathematics. Dont try to slip it in by calling it primitive. No, no. I mean primitive only in that it has been known as long as our videotapes go back, that its stripping is shrouded in the mists of antiquity as is that of fire or the wheel. In any case, the equations for such gravitational theory contain within themselves a verbal description of the motions of a quicksilver(a) system, of a double star, of tides, and of many other things. do use of such equations, we can even set up a pictorial simulation and have a planet circling a star or two stars circling each other on a insipid screen or set up more complicated systems in a three-dimensional holograph. Such simplified simulations make it far easier to savvy a phenomenon than it would be if we had to say the phenomenon itself. In fact, without the gravitational equations, our knowledge of planetary motions and of celestial mechanics generally would be sparse indeed. Now, as you hankering to know more and more about any phenomenon or as a phenomenon becomes more complex, you need more and more elaborate equations, more and more detailed programming, and you end with a computerized simulation that is harder and harder to grasp. washbowlt you form a simulation of the simulation? asked Hummin. You would go down another degree.In that case, you would have to eliminate some characteristic of the phenomenon which you want to include and your simulation becomes useless. The LPS-that is, the least possible simulation gains in complexity faster than the object being phoney does and eventually the simulation catches up with the phenomenon. Thus, it was established thousands of years ago that the Universe as a whole, in its full complexity, cannot be represented by any simulation keener than itself.In other words, you cant get any picture of the Universe as a whole except by studying the entire Universe. It has been sho wn also that if one attempts to substitute simulations of a blue part of the Universe, then another small part, then another small part, and so on, intending to put them all together to form a total picture of the Universe, one would find that there are an infinite number of such part simulations. It would therefore take an infinite time to understand the Universe in full and that is just another way of saying that it is impossible to gain all the knowledge there is.I understand you so far, said Dors, sounding a little surprised.Well then, we know that some comparatively simple things are easy to simulate and as things grow more and more complex they become harder to simulate until ultimately they become impossible to simulate. But at what level of complexity does simulation cease to be possible? Well, what I have shown, making use of a mathematical technique first invented in this past light speed and barely usable even if one employs a large and very fast computer, our Galactic family falls short of that mark. It can be represented by a simulation simpler than itself. And I went on to show that this would result in the ability to predict future events in a statistical fashion-that is, by stating the probability for alternate sets of events, rather than flatly predicting that one set will take place.In that case, said Hummin, since you can fruitfully simulate Galactic society, its only a matter of doing so. Why is it impractical?All I have proved is that it will not take an infinite time to understand Galactic society, but if it takes a gazillion years it will still be impractical. That will be essentially the same as infinite time to us.Is that how long it would take? A billion years?I havent been able to work out how long it would take, but I strongly suspect that it will take at least a billion years, which is why I suggested that number.But you dont really know.Ive been trying to work it out.Without success?Without success.The University library do es not help? Hummin cast aside a look at Dors as he asked the question.Seldon shook his head slowly. Not at all.Dors cant help?Dors sighed. I know nothing about the subject, Chetter. I can only suggest ways of looking. If Hari looks and doesnt find, I am helpless.Hummin rose to his feet. In that case, there is no great use in staying here at the University and I must think of somewhere else to place you.Seldon reached out and touched his sleeve. Still, I have an idea.Hummin stared at him with a syncopation narrowing of eyes that might have belied surprise-or suspicion. When did you get the idea? besides now?No. Its been buzzing in my head for a few days before I went Upperside. That little experience eclipsed it for a while, but asking about the library reminded me of it.Hummin seated himself again. Tell me your idea-if its not something thats all in all marinated in mathematics.No mathematics at all. Its just that reading history in the library reminded me that Galactic society was less complicated in the past. Twelve thousand years ago, when the Empire was on the way to being established, the Galaxy contained only about ten million inhabited foundations. cardinal thousand years ago, the pre-Imperial kingdoms included only about ten thousand worlds altogether. Still deeper in the past, who knows how society shrinks down? Perhaps even to a single world as in the legends you yourself once mentioned, Hummin.Hummin said, And you think you might be able to work out psychohistory if you dealt with a much simpler Galactic society?Yes, it seems to me that I might be able to do so. past too, said Dors with sudden enthusiasm, suppose you work out psychohistory for a smaller society of the past and suppose you can make predictions from a study of the pre-Imperial situation as to what might happen a thousand years after the formation of the Empire-you could then check the actual situation at that time and see how near the mark you were.Hummin said coldly, Consideri ng that you would know in advance the situation of the year 1,000 of the Galactic Era, it would scarcely be a fair test. You would be unconsciously swayed by your prior knowledge and you would be bound to choose values for your equation in such a way as to give you what you would know to be the solution.I dont think so, said Dors. We dont know the situation in 1,000 G.E. very well and we would have to dig. After all, that was eleven millennia ago.Seldons face turned into a picture of dismay. What do you mean we dont know the situation in 1,000 G.E. very well? There were computers then, werent there, Dors?Of course.And memory storage units and recordings of ear and eye? We should have all the records of 1,000 G.E. as we have of the present year of 12,020 G.E.In theory, yes, but in actual practice- Well, you know, Hari, its what you keep saying. Its possible to have full records of 1,000 G.E., but its not practical to expect to have it.Yes, but what I keep saying, Dors, refers to math ematical demonstrations. I dont see the applications to historical records.Dors said defensively, Records dont last forever, Hari. Memory banks can be destroyed or defaced as a result of conflict or can simply deteriorate with time. Any memory bit, any record that is not referred to for a long time, eventually drowns in accumulated noise. They say that fully one third of the records in the Imperial Library are simply gibberish, but, of course, custom will not allow those records to be removed. other(a) libraries are less tradition-bound. In the Streeling University library, we discard worthless items every ten years.Naturally, records frequently referred to and frequently duplicated on various worlds and in various libraries-governmental and private-remain clear enough for thousands of years, so that many of the essential points of Galactic history remain known even if they took place in pre-Imperial times. However, the farther back you go, the less there is preserved.I cant believ e that, said Seldon. I should think that new copies would be made of any record in danger of withering. How could you let knowledge disappear?Undesired knowledge is useless knowledge, said Dors. Can you imagine all the time, effort, and energy expended in a continual refurbishing of unfermented data? And that wastage would grow steadily more extreme with time.Surely, you would have to allow for the fact that someone at some time might need the data being so carelessly disposed of.A particular item might be wanted once in a thousand years. To save it all just in case of such a need isnt cost-effective. Even in science. You spoke of the primitive equations of gravitation and say it is primitive because its discovery is lost in the mists of antiquity. Why should that be? Didnt you mathematicians and scientists save all data, all information, back and back to the misty immemorial time when those equations were discovered?Seldon groaned and made no attempt to answer. He said, Well, Hum min, so much for my idea. As we look back into the past and as society grows smaller, a useful psychohistory becomes more likely. But knowledge dwindles even more rapidly than size, so psychohistory becomes less likely-and the less outweighs the more.To be sure, there is the Mycogen empyrean, said Dors, m utilize.Hummin looked up quickly. So there is and that would be the perfect place to put Seldon. I should have thought of it myself.Mycogen Sector, repeated Hari, looking from one to the other. What and where is Mycogen Sector?Hari, please, Ill tell you later. Right now, I have preparations to make. Youll leave tonight.33.Dors had urged Seldon to sleep a bit. They would be leaving halfway between lights out and lights on, under cover of night, while the rest of the University slept. She insisted he could still use a little rest.And have you sleep on the floor again? Seldon asked.She shrugged. The bed will only hold one and if we both try to crowd into it, neither of us will get mu ch sleep.He looked at her hungrily for a moment and said, Then Ill sleep on the floor this time.No, you wont. I wasnt the one who lay in a coma in the sleet.As it happened, neither slept. Though they darkened the room and though the perpetual hum of Trantor was only a drowsy sound in the relatively quiet confines of the University, Seldon found that he had to talk. He said, Ive been so much trouble to you, Dors, here at the University. Ive even been keeping you from your work. Still, Im sorry Ill have to leave you.Dors said, You wont leave me. Im coming with you. Hummin is arranging a leave of absence for me.Seldon said, dismayed, I cant ask you to do that.Youre not. Hummins asking it. I must guard you. After all, I faded in connection with Upperside and should make up for it.I told you. Please dont feel guilty about that.-Still, I must ingest I would feel more comfortable with you at my side. If I could only be sure I wasnt interfering with your lifeDors said softly, Youre not, Ha ri. Please go to sleep.Seldon lay silent for a while, then whispered, Are you sure Hummin can really arrange everything, Dors?Dors said, Hes a remarkable man. Hes got influence here at the University and everywhere else, I think. If he says he can arrange for an indefinite leave for me, Im sure he can. He is a most persuasive man.I know, said Seldon. Sometimes I wonder what he really wants of me.What he says, said Dors. Hes a man of strong and gallant ideas and dreams.You sound as though you know him well, Dors.Oh yes, I know him well. well-nigh?Dors made an odd noise. Im not sure what youre implying, Hari, but, assuming the most insolent interpretation- No, I dont know him intimately. What business would that be of yours anyway?Im sorry, said Seldon. I just didnt want, inadvertently, to be invading someone elses-Property? Thats even more insulting. I think you had better go to sleep.Im sorry again, Dors, but I cant sleep. Let me at least change the subject. You havent explained wh at the Mycogen Sector is. Why will it be good for me to go there? Whats it like?Its a small sector with a population of only about two million-if I remember correctly. The thing is that the Mycogenians cling tightly to a set of traditions about early history and are supposed to have very ancient records not available to anyone else. Its just possible they would be of more use to you in your attempted examination of pre-Imperial times than orthodox historians might be. All our talk about early history brought the sector to mind.Have you ever seen their records?No. I dont know anyone who has.Can you be sure that the records really exist, then?Actually, I cant say. The assumption among non-Mycogenians is that theyre a bunch of madcaps, but that may be quite unfair. They certainly say they have records, so perhaps they do. In any case, we would be out of sight there. The Mycogenians keep rigorously to themselves.-And now please do go to sleep.And somehow Seldon finally did.34.Hari Seldo n and Dors Venabili left the University grounds at 0300. Seldon realized that Dors had to be the leader. She knew Trantor better than he did-two years better. She was obviously a close friend of Hummin (how close? the question kept nagging at him) and she understood his instructions. Both she and Seldon were swathed in light swirling docks with scraggy hoods. The style had been a short-lived clothing fad at the University (and among young intellectuals, generally) some years back and though right now it might provoke laughter, it had the saving grace of covering them well and of making them unrecognizable-at least at a cursory glance.Hummin had said, Theres a possibility that the event Upperside was in all innocent and that there are no agents after you, Seldon, but lets be prepared for the worst.Seldon had asked anxiously, Wont you come with us?I would like to, said Hummin, but I must limit my absence from work if I am not to become a target myself. You understand?Seldon sighed. He understood.They entered an state highway car and found a seat as far as possible from the few who had already boarded. (Seldon wondered why anyone should be on the throughways at three in the morning-and then thought that it was lucky some were or he and Dors would be entirely too conspicuous.)Seldon fell to watching the unceasing panorama that passed in review as the equally endless line of coaches moved along the endless monorail on an endless electromagnetic field.The Expressway passed row upon row of dwelling units, few of them very tall, but some, for all he knew, very deep. Still, if tens of millions of square kilometers formed an urbanized total, even xl billion people would not require very tall structures or very closely packed ones. They did pass open areas, in most of which crops seemed to be growing-but some of which were clearly parklike. And there were numerous structures whose nature he couldnt guess. Factories? Office buildings? Who knew? One large featureless cylinder struck him as though it might be a water tank. After all, Trantor had to have a fresh water supply. Did they sluice rain from Upperside, filter and treat it, then store it? It seemed inevitable that they should. Seldon did not have very long to study the view, however.Dors muttered, This is about where we should be getting off. She stood up and her strong fingers gripped his arm.They were off the Expressway now, standing on solid flooring while Dors analyze the directional signs.The signs were unobtrusive and there were many of them. Seldons heart sank. Most of them were in pictographs and initials, which were undoubtedly understandable to native Trantorians, but which were alien to him.This way, said Dors.Which way? How do you know? actualise that? Two move and an arrow.Two wings? Oh. He had thought of it as an upside-down w, wide and shallow, but he could see where it might be the stylized wings of a bird. Why dont they use words? he said sullenly.Because words vary fro m world to world. What an air-jet is here could be a soar on Cinna or a swoop on other worlds. The two wings and an arrow are a Galactic symbol for an air vessel and the symbol is understood everywhere. Dont you use them on Helicon?Not much. Helicon is a fairly homogeneous world, culturally speaking, and we tend to cling to our private ways firmly because were overshadowed by our neighbors.See? said Dors. Theres where your psychohistory might come in. You could show that even with different dialects the use of set symbols, Galaxy-wide, is a unifying force.That wont help. He was following her through change dim alleyways and part of his mind wondered what the crime rate might be on Trantor and whether this was a high-crime area. You can have a billion rules, each covering a single phenomenon, and you can derive no generalizations from that. Thats what one means when one says that a system might be taken only by a model as complex as itself.-Dors, are we heading for an air-jet?She s topped and turned to look at him with an amuse frown. If were following the symbols for air-jets, do you suppose were trying to reach a golf game course? Are you afraid of air-jets in the way so many Trantorians are?No, no. We fly freely on Helicon and I make use of air-jets frequently. Its just that when Hummin took me to the University, he avoided commercial air travel because he thought we would leave too clear a trail.Thats because they knew where you were to begin with, Hari, and were after you already. Right now, it may be that they dont know where you are and were using an obscure port and a private air-jet.And wholl be doing the flying?A friend of Hummins, I presume.Can he be trusted, do you suppose?If hes a friend of Hummins, he surely can.You certainly think exceedingly of Hummin, said Seldon with a twinge of discontent.With reason, said Dors with no attempt at coyness. Hes the best.Seldons discontent did not dwindle.Theres the air-jet, she said.It was a small one with o ddly do wings. Standing beside it was a small man, dressed in the usual gross Trantorian colors.Dors said, Were psycho.The pilot said, And Im history.They followed him into the air-jet and Seldon said, Whose idea were the passwords?Hummins, said Dors.Seldon snorted. Somehow I didnt think Hummin would have a sense of humor. Hes so solemn.Dors smiled.