They started rather late to avoid the morning rush. There were some
transportation complications. At the first trial they arrived at the
wrong section of the city. After consultation with various passengers
and robot way stations, they got it straightened out. Penciling
corrections on the map, they retraced their route, making only one
mistake along the way. This mistake was not their fault. A transfer
junction had been relocated since they had passed through it on the way
out.
They got to their destination in good time, perhaps faster than if they
had used the services of Information Center. A-CELO was also an example
of neo-drive-in classical. But instead of resembling something
appropriate, say a five or six pointed star, it appeared to be a mere
jumble of children's curv-blocks. A closer look convinced Marcus that
his first appraisal had been wrong. Originally it must have been built
to house another A-function. Perhaps A-WR (Anatomy; woman, reclining).
Whatever it was on the outside, A-CELO was confusion within. Marcus
found it impossible to get near the question booths. Robots scurried
about in seemingly useless tasks and workmen shouted orders that no one
paid attention to. In the midst of the dust and turmoil, one man stood
on a platform and watched the frantic effort with bored serenity.
"Moving," he said automatically as Marcus approached.
"Where to?"
"I don't know. It depends on whom we can bump."
* * * * *
Marcus paled visibly. They were moving and didn't know where. Another
day and his map was useless. And if this man was right, even Information
Center wouldn't know where A-CELO was tomorrow. "Isn't there a planning
commission?" he said. "Don't they tell you where to move?"
The man shrugged. "There's a planning commission. But they had too many
responsibilities and had to move to a larger building, the same as we're
doing. Until they get settled, everyone's on his own." The man spoke
quietly into the mike and the tempo of the removal robots accelerated.
He turned back to Marcus and added an explanation: "Three exploration
ships returned yesterday, loaded to the brim with micro-data. That's why
we have to move."
Marcus rubbed his face. He could see it posed a problem. It was not
merely the storage of new data, the data also had to be made available
to the public. This required new offices, human supervisors, robot
clerks.
That was the way they did things on Earth, but he wished they'd waited a
few days. "You can't be moving this stuff out on the streets. Somebody
must have an idea where you're going. Tell me who he is. I've got to
find out where you'll be tomorrow."
"Oh, no. If you found where we're moving, you'd learn who we're going to
bump," said the man with cheerful cunning. "They'd take steps to repel
us. Can't have that." The man scratched his head. "Tell you, if you're
really honest--if you're not a department spy--I can show you how to
take care of your business today."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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