"My friends, from now on the blind will lead the blind. Moral obliquity has triumphed and becomes common morality." He laughed and rubbed his nose. "I'm sorry. I was speaking to an audience of one--myself. What I want you billions to do is to continue your work, to maintain the system as it now stands. Pseudo-life will be replaced with pseudo-life till the end of time. It will be a static world. It will be a nearly-as-good world. It will be a pleasant world by your standards. I wish you to do this, and you must, of course, obey my command. My purpose reaches a little beyond your natural inclination; this system will serve as a fertile warning to any beings with intelligence who may come after me. "I will not be with you long, myself--" "Suicide?" asked Prime Center hopefully. "Alpha Centauri," said John Davis Drumstetter with a chuckle. "The colonists left because they didn't like pseudo-life, either. Good-by to you all." He snapped off the communication, waved to the little group under the tree, and entered the _Last Hope_. The entry port swung closed. The force field glowed, and then the ship was gone, leaving behind a whirlwind of dust. "Alpha Centauri?" asked Monica Drake Lane. "Following the others of his wild, unstable breed," said Scientist Norcross. "Easy come, easy go," the girl said, shrugging. Prime Center had the last word. "Yes, and good riddance. Human beings have always been a nuisance." End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Dead End, by Wallace Macfarlane