The door opened again to admit Harry Vinson. He faced Hegeman, "Where is Narina?" he demanded. "She'll be here as soon as we can get her," replied Hegeman. "Jason Charless is also on the way." "Good man, Charless," said Lloyd. "Vinson, what have we here?" Vinson grunted. "Begins to sound like the fabled revolt of the machines," he said. Hegeman nodded. "I remember a poem about that from somewhere--a soliloquy, if I recall correctly." Vinson nodded, "Was a favorite of mine as a kid. But there was something in it about some angry adding machines climbing the side of the building after the soliloquizer, I think. We haven't anything that fantastic." "It's fantastic enough," said Admiral Sarne. "Have you any idea of how far it does go?" "Only that which logic and good sense dictates," said Vinson thoughtfully. "Consider--any electronic system of control might be likened to a nervous system. No machine lacking such refinement and organization could hope to respond to stimuli from the master machine." "In other words, the servo systems in the aircraft could and did respond, but a simple machine like a pencil sharpener could not?" "That's essentially correct, but a bit extreme. Gigantic machines run by electricity and electronic controls would respond. An automobile would not, of course, but its electrical system might refuse to co-operate." Lloyd nodded. "Jason Charless said that the machine likened mechanical 'life' to animal life," he said. "Which embraces all the forms of the classification from the highly organized to the simple lever, just as 'life' covers everything from human beings with brains to the amoeba--or less--with little or no organization." The door opened again to admit Narina. Vinson went to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Are you all right?" "Shaken, but whole," she told him. "And you?" "Just scared," he said with a half-smile. "Me too," she agreed. Then she reached in a pocket and brought out the small metal cube with its trailing wires. "I thought we might find this useful." Vinson nodded. He held the cube up for all to see. "This thing is--or was--the controlling element in the plane we escaped in," he said. It passed from hand to hand as each man inspected it. The consensus of opinion was that the thing was inexplicable but definitely dangerous. "Strange item," muttered General Lloyd. "I assume it to be some means of control and communication," said Harry Vinson. "Lord, what a program for any machine or any human, for that matter." * * * * * Admiral Sarne shrugged. "Seems to me that a logic machine capable of thought might be better able to perform to its own plan than a human." "Not in the beginning," said Vinson. "Consider the evolutional problem--" "You treat the thing as though it were alive," objected Hegeman.