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has another layer! Call Seldon!"
Hari Seldon stared at the images and data-rivers. "Voltaire suffered a recall
storm. And look at the implications. "
Marq peered without comprehension at the torrent. "Uh, I see. "
"That promontory a memory nugget about a debate he had with Joan, eight
thousand years ago. "
"Somebody used these sims before "
"For public debate, yes. History not only repeats itself, sometimes it
stutters. "
"Faith vs. Reason?"
"Faith/Mechanicals vs. Reason/Human Will, " Seldon said, as if reading
"In that age, he was for human effervescence. Joan favored Faith, which meant,
uh, tiktoks. "
"I don't get it. "
"Tiktoks, or higher forms of them, were deemed capable of guiding hu-
manity. " Seldon seemed uncomfortable.
"Tiktoks?" Marq snorted derisively.
"Or, uh, higher forms. "
"That's what Voltaire and Joan were debating eight thousand years ago? So they
were engineered for this. Who won?"
"The result is suppressed. I believe it became an irrelevant issue. No
computer intelligences could be made which could guide humanity. "
Marq nodded. "Makes sense. Machines will never be as smart as we are.
Day-to-day business, sure, but "
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"I suggest erasure of the embedded memory complex, " Seldon said curtly. "That
will eliminate the interfering layer. "
"Uh, if you think that's best. I'm not sure we can disconnect every tie-in to
those memories, though. These sims use holographic recall, so it's lodged "
"To get the results you wish in this upcoming debate, it is crucial. There
could be other implications, too. " "Such as?"
"Historians might mine sims like these for lost data on the far past. They
Seldon nodded. "Indeed. There's a glimmer of an idea here.... "
He stood quickly and Marq rose. "Couldn't you stay? I know Sybyl would like to
talk " "Sorry, must go. Matters of state. " "Uh, well, thanks for "
Seldon was gone before Marq could close his gaping mouth.
8.
"I have no desire to see the skinny gentleman in the wig. He thinks he's
better than everyone else, " the Maid told the sorceress called Sybyl.
"True, but "
"I much prefer the company of my own voices. "
"He's quite taken with you, " Madame la Sorciere said.
"I find that difficult to believe. " Still, she could not help smiling.
"Oh, but it's true. He's asked Marq his re-creator for an entirely new image.
He lived, you know, to eighty-four. "
"He looks even older. " She had found his wig, lilac ribbon, and velvet
breeches ludicrous on such a dried-up fig of a man.
"Marq decided to make him appear as he looked at forty-two. Do see him. "
The Maid reflected. Monsieur Arouet would be far less repulsive if... "Did
Monsieur have a different tailor as a young man?"
"Hmmm, that might be arranged. "
"I'm not going to the inn in these. "
to tell Monsieur Boker. He doesn't want you fraternizing with the enemy, but
I think it will do you good. Hone your skills for the Great Debate. "
There was a pause falling, soft clouds in which the Maid felt as if she had
fainted. When she recovered hard cool surfaces, sudden sharp splashes of
brown, green she found herself seated in the Inn of the Two
Maggots, once again, surrounded by guests who seemed not to know that she was
there.
Armor-plated beings bearing trays and clearing tableware darted among the
guests. She looked for Garcon and spotted him gazing at the honey-
haired cook, who pretended not to notice. Garcon's longing recalled the way
the Maid herself had gazed at statues of St. Catherine and St. Marga-
ret, who had both forsworn men but adopted their attire; suspended be-
tween two worlds, holy passion above, earthy ardor below. Just as here, with
its jarring jargon of numbers and machines, though she knew it for a
purgatorial waiting cloister, floating between the worlds.
She suppressed a smile when Monsieur Arouet appeared. He sported a dark,
unpowdered wig, though still looked rather old about the age of her father
Jacques Dars, thirty plus one or two. His shoulders slumped forward under the
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