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Mordel emitted a high-pitched whine as he considered the terms.
"You wish to base it upon your admission of failure, rather than upon failure itself," he said. "There can be no such escape clause. You could fail and refuse to admit it, thereby not fulfilling your end of the bargain."
"Not so." stated Frost. "My own knowledge of failure would constitute such an admission. You may monitor me periodically—say, every half-century—to see whether it is present, to see whether I have arrived at the conclusion that it ca
High overhead, Soicom did not respond to any of Frost's transmissions, which meant that Frost was free to act as he chose. So as Soicom—like a falling sapphire— sped above the rainbow ba
Mordel brought the books, rimed them, took them back.
Load by load, the surviving Library of Man passed beneath Frost's sca
Still, at the rate of one hundred to one hundred-fiftyvolumes a week, it took Frost only a little over a century to exhaust Divcom's supply of books.
At the end of the half-century, he laid himself open to monitoring and there was no conclusion of failure.
During this time, Soicom made no comment upon the course of affairs. Frost decided this was not a matter of unawareness, but one of waiting. For what? He was not certain.
There was the day Mordel closed his turret and said to him, "Those were the last. You have sca
"So few?" asked Frost. "Many of them contained bibliographies of books I have not yet sca
'Then those books no longer exist," said Mordel. "It is only by accident that my master succeeded in preserving as many as there are."
"Then there is nothing more to be learned of Man from His books. What else have you?"
"There were some films and tapes," said Mordel, "which my master transferred 'to solid-state record. I could bring you those for viewing."
"Bring them," said Frost.
Mordel departed and returned with the Complete Drama Critics' Living Library. This could not be speeded-up beyond twice natural lime, so it took Frost a little over six months to view it in its entirety.
Then, "What else have you?" he asked.
"Some artifacts," said Mordel.
"Bring them."
He returned with pots and pans, gameboards and hand tools. He brought hairbrushes, combs, eyeglasses, human clothing. He showed Frost facsimiles of blueprints, paintings, newspapers, magazines, letters, and the scores of several pieces of music. He displayed a football, a baseball, a Browning automatic rifle, a doorknob, a chain of keys, the tops to several Mason jars, a model beehive. He played him recorded music.
Then he returned with nothing.
"Bring me more," said Frost.
"Alas, great Frost, there is no more," he told him. "You have sca
"Then go away."
"Do you admit now that it ca
So he did.
A year passed; then two, then three.
After five years, Mordel appeared once more upon the horizon, approached, came to a halt before Frost's southern surface.
"Mighty Frost?"
"Yes?" .
"Have you finished processing and formulating?"
"No."
"Will you finish soon?"
"Perhaps. Perhaps not. When is 'soon?* Define the term."
"Never mind. Do you still think it can be done?"
"I still know / can do it." ; There was a week of silence.
Then, "Frost?"
"Yes?"
"You are a fool."
Mordel faced his turret in the direction from which he had come. His wheels turned.
"I will call you when I want you," said Frost.
Mordel sped away.
Weeks passed, months passed, a year went by.
Then one day Frost sent forth his message:
"Mordel, come to me. I need you."
When Mordel arrived. Frost did not wait for a saluta- ^ tion. He said, "You are not a very fast machine." U
"Alas, but I came a great distance, mighty Frost. X ' sped all the way. Are you ready to come back with me now? Have you failed?" "When I have failed, little Mordel," said Frost, "I will tell you.
Therefore, refrain from the constant use of the interrogative. Now then, I have clocked your speed and it is not so great as it could be. For this reason, I have arranged other means of transportation."
"Transportation? To where, Frost?" • ^ ^;
"That is for you to tell me," said Frost, and his color ,?,; changed from silverblue to sun-behind-the-clouds-yellow. ^, Mordel rolled back away from him as the ice of a - hundred centuries began to melt. Then Frost rose upon a -l',^cushion of air and drifted toward Mordel, his glow gradually fading.
A cavity appeared within his southern surface, from which he slowly extended a runway until it touched the ice.
"On the day of our bargain," he stated, "you said that you could conduct me about the world and show me the things which delighted Man. My speed will be greater than yours would be, so I have prepared for you a chamber. Enter it, and conduct me to the places of which you spoke."
Mordel waited, emitting a high-pitched whine. Then, "Very well," he said. and entered, The chamber closed about him. The only opening was a quariz window Frost had formed.
Mordel gave him coordinates and they rose into the air and departed the North Pole of the Earth.
"I monitored your communication with Divcom," he said, "wherein there was conjecture as to whether I would retain you and send forth a facsimile in your place as a spy.Jollowed by the decision that you were expendable."
*'Will you do this thing?"
"No, I will keep my end of the bargain if I must. I have no reason to spy on Divcom."
"You are aware that you would be forced to keep your end of the bargain even if you did not wish to; and Solcom would not come to your assistance because of the fact that you dared to make such a bargain."
"Do you speak as one who considers this to be a possibility. or as one who knows?"
"As one who knows."
They came to rest in the place once known as California. The time was near sunset. In the distance, the surf struck steadily upon the rocky shoreline. Frost released Mordel and considered his surroundings.
"Those large plants ... ?"
"Redwood trees."
"And the green ones are ... ?"
"Grass."
"Yes- it is as I thought. Why have we come here?"
"Because it is a place which once delighted Man."
"In whal ways?"
"It is scenic, beautiful... .""Oh."
A humming sound began within Frost, followed by a series of sharp clicks.
"What are you doing?"
Frost dilated an opening, and two great eyes regarded Mordel from within it.
"What are those?"
"Eyes," said Frost. "I have constructed analogues of the human sensory equipment, so that I may see and smell and taste and hear like a Man. Now, direct my attention to an object or objects of beauty."